
Class TA \^ 

Book ' W7e 

Coipglrt}]?— 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



GPO 



The Romance of 

Modern Engineering 



J2 p rt ^ i :S ^' 

o ^ &£ S "=* o 

H 0-2xJ ^ C o 




^ Q 

h ^ 



■^ 
O 



o 



^ 









C "55 

a— 



ri 'J — cr^ O 3 ^ 



The Romance of 
Modern Engineering 



Containing Interesting Descriptions in Non-Technical 

Language of the Nile Dam, the Panama Canal, 

the Tower Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, the 

Trans-Siberian Railway, the Niagara Falls 

Power Co., Bermuda Floating Dock 

etc. etc. 



By 

Archibald Williams 

Author of " The Romance of Modern Invention " 



With many Illustrations 



Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott Company 

London : C. Arthur Pearson, Ltd. 
1904 



.\N 



Uniform with this Volume 

THE ROMANCE OF 
MODERN INVENTION 

By ARCHIBALD WILLIAMS 

This volume deals in a popular way with 
all the latest inventions, such as Air- 
ships, Mono-Rail,Wireless Telegraphy, 
Liquid Air, etc. 

With 26 Illustrations. Gilt edges. 
Price ^1.^0 net 

" There is probably no living specimen of a boy 
who will not find this admirable volume a source 
of keen enjoyment." — StandarcU 







H(o 


7 Y ^ 
^0 ^ 




C 4 
< C 

c 




c r * * 

C » ••€ 

C c « • • 

- r • 


^ * • • • 


« ( t * • 

« • s. » 




• *■ c 


'IV'.. 


, • « • • • ♦ 





Preface 

As it would be impossible to treat, in the compass 
of a few hundred pages, all the great engineering 
feats of modern times without reducing individual 
accounts to uninteresting brevity, the author has 
preferred, where selection is possible, to take typical 
instances of engineering practice, and, by the aid 
of comparatively detailed descriptions, to place the 
reader in a position to appreciate them and similar 
undertakings. 

He desires here gratefully to acknowledge the 
help received from engineers and other gentlemen 
professionally connected with the great works that 
are the subjects of the following chapters, and to 
thank the proprietors of certain publications for 
permission to make use of the same. 



1904. 



Contents 



CHAP. 



PAGE 



I. 


The Harnessing of Niagara 


II 


II. 


The Taming of the Nile . . . . 


34 


III. 


Dams and Aqueducts . . 


55 


IV. 


The Forth Bridge 


82 


V. 


The Tower Bridge 


no 


VI. 


American Bridges 


127 


VII. 


The Trans-Siberian Railway 


139 


VIII. 


Cairo to the Cape 


i66 


IX. 


The Loi-TiEST Railway in the World 


182 


X. 


City Railways 


190 


XI. 


The Severn Tunnel 


204 


XII. 


The Simplon Tunnel .... 


225 


XIII. 


The Manchester Ship Canal 


245 


XIV. 


The Panama Canal .... 


. 267 


XV. 


Harbours of Refuge . . 


292 


XVI. 


Ocean Leviathans .... 


, 308 


XVII. 


Floating Docks 


• 333 


XVIII. 


The Romance of Petroleum 


• 349 


XIX. 


Artesian Wells 

7 


. 366 



List of Illustrations 



1. The Tower Bridge. 

2. General View of the Nile Dam 

3. Nile Dam Sluices Open 

4. The Norton Water Tower . 

5. Forth Bridge .... 

6. Forth Bridge : Fife Cantilever 

7. Brooklyn Bridge . 

8. A Giant Lathe 

9. The "Baikal" Ice Ferry 

10. Telegraph Line: Cape to Cairo 

11. Hand -Car on the Lima -Oroya 

Railway .... 

12. The "Tube" in Course of Con 

struction .... 

13. Section of the Severn Tunnel 

14. Manchester Ship Canal 

15. View of a Cutting on the Panama 

Canal 



• 


Frontispiece 


To face page 


34 


>> 




50 


}) 




66 


)> 




82 


» 




100 


>> 




130 


)> 




136 


» 




152 


» 




174 



M 



» 



>> 



>> 



»> 



184 

196 
212 
248 

272 



List of Illustrations 



1 6. American Plan for Completing 

Panama Canal .... 

17. A Titan Crane at South Shields 

18. A Giant Crane at Vera Cruz 

19. The Celtic in Dry Dock 

20. The Kaiser Wilhelm IL in the 

Shipyard ..... 

21. Bermuda Floating Dock Sub- 

merged . . . . . 

22. Bermuda Floating Dock Clear 

of the Water .... 

23. Petroleum "Spouters" on Fire 

AT Baku . . 

24. Artesian Well in Lincolnshire . 



To face page 


288 


>) >) 


298 


II n 


304 


11 >> 


310 


n II 


320 


M >) 


336 


11 11 


344 


>l Jl 


360 


II l> 


368 



10 



The Romance of Modern 
Engineering 

CHAPTER I 

THE HARNESSING OF NIAGARA 

It is indeed hard to conceive that any one in full 
possession of his senses could stand unmoved in the 
presence of a great waterfall. The sight of huge 
masses of water, tumbling as it were from the blue of 
the very heavens, dissolving into arrowy streams as 
they descend before the final crash into the mist- 
laden gulf below, must appeal even to the most 
brutalised mind by its sheer majesty and magni- 
ficence. 

What then are the thoughts of those whose emo- 
tions are strings easily attuned to the grander moods 
of Nature? 

The first impression is doubtless one of awe, called 
forth by the involuntary comparison between our 
own insignificance and the immensity of the force 
before us. What right have we, frail creatures of 
a day, to speak of lordship of creation face to face 
with this watery avalanche that has thundered down 
for centuries, nay thousands of years ? What can 

II 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

human art avail against the violence of those cease- 
less, seething torrents, stunning our ears with sound, 
dazzling our eyes to weariness by their motion ? 

Then follow what we may call the secondary emo- 
tions. The poet feels the inspiration of descriptive 
verse : the artist reaches for his pencil. The engineer, 
or man of science, not less alive, perhaps, to the artistic 
beauty of the scene, yet from habit and profession 
sees here a mighty source of Power, of motive force 
to drive the myriad whirring wheels conjured into 
being by civilisation and its needs. 

*' I look forward," said Lord Kelvin at Niagara Falls, 
" to the time when the whole water from Lake Erie 
will find its way to the lower level of Lake Ontario 
through machinery, doing more good for the world 
than that great benefit which we now possess in 
the contemplation of the splendid scene now pre- 
sented by the waterfalls of Niagara." On another 
occasion another famous electrician, Sir William 
Siemens, looked upon the scene with similar thoughts. 
*'The stupendous rush of waters filled him with fear 
and admiration, as it does every one who comes 
within the sound of its mighty roar. But he saw in 
it something far beyond what was obvious to the 
multitude, for his scientific mind could not help view- 
ing it as an inexpressible manifestation of mechanical 
energy — and he at once began to speculate whether 
it was absolutely necessary that the whole of this 
glorious magnitude of power should be wasted in 
dashing itself into the chasm below — whether it was 

12 



The Harnessing of Niagara 

not possible that at least some might be practically 
utilised for the benefit of mankind." ^ 

It seems as if we may trace the finger of a perverse 
Fate in the necessity that drives us, in an age when 
man is peculiarly appreciative of the beauties of nature, 
to invade with our instruments and machines some of 
the fairest spots on earth. To obtain a good water 
supply we throw a huge mass of masonry across the 
Nile, and dam lovely valleys; to furnish us with 
timber stately forests are levelled ; to yield us coal 
and iron smiling country-sides are disfigured by 
towering chimneys, and the atmosphere filled with 
a foul reek. And that our source of energy may be 
in proportion to our wants the rushing mountain 
stream in Norway, Switzerland, Italy, France, and 
elsewhere is hemmed in by walls and weirs, and its 
only way to freedom lies through huge pipes to 
whirling turbines. Much as we must regret these 
things, we know that they are inevitable. Many of the 
conditions of life are changing. To-day that nation 
is ascendant which is not necessarily hardiest, or 
numbers the bravest hearts and stoutest arms, but, 
as we are told, that one which can produce the 
cheapest ton of steel. In other words, wealth holds 
the balances : wealth depends on commerce ; com- 
merce comes to those who are able to hold their own 
against the world in the fierce struggle of economical 
production. To carry the train a little further, econo- 

1 From William Pole's " Life of Sir William Siemens." 

13 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

mical production is based upon a plentiful supply of 
cheap energy, whether in the form of motive force 
or heat. The manufacturer is so eager to clip off a 
decimal of a cent here or a fraction of a penny there 
from the cost at which he can produce his goods, 
that any method for cheapening the prime mover — 
Power — of his factories is gladly welcomed. The 
engineer is always busy bringing the latest appliances 
of science to his aid. We hear of enormous steam- 
engines, many times more efficient than those of half 
a century ago ; of great machines actuated by explo- 
sions of gas — formidable competitors to Giant Steam : 
and Water-Power in its newest developments is fast 
pushing its way to the front, threatening both steam 
and explosive vapour. Coal-fields are exhaustible, 
oil-fields are exhaustible, but a river ''flows on for 
ever." Once in harness, water becomes man's servant 
for the ages. 

As a consequence of the new lease of life given to 
water-power, we may expect to see great changes in 
the industrial world. Hitherto trade and manufacture 
have gone to those countries which possess well- 
worked coal-fields. In the future a bid for supremacy 
will be made by those districts where the force of 
gravitation, as represented by falling water, may be 
cheaply transformed into other forms of energy. 
Numerous experiments and statistics prove that the 
steam-engine has almost reached its limit of economy ; 
we cannot expect to get much more power from every 
pound of coal we burn than we do now. The cost of 



The Harnessing of Niagara 

raising that pound from the bowels of the earth tends 
to increase as the supply decreases. 

Many great water-power installations are already in 
full working : on the Rhone, the Rhine, the Adda, the 
Reuss, the Aan Hundreds of thousands of horse- 
power are daily produced at the turbines, and flashed 
noiselessly to thousands of machines, through great 
cables pulsating with electricity. 

But at Niagara, the electrical Mecca of the world, 
Nature has furnished mankind with the most magnifi- 
cent of power-houses. Here the overflow from four 
lakes, or rather inland seas, linked so as to form one 
huge reservoir of 90,000 square miles, is herded by 
cliffs into a narrow channel and compelled to make a 
magnificent leap of 165 sheer feet into the lower river. 
The figures are almost appalling. A solid wall of 
water 20 feet deep, representing 275,000 cubic feet per 
second, passes over the Falls continuously. Its daily 
force, some seven million horse-power, equals that of 
the latent power of the 200,000 tons of coal mined 
every twenty-four hours throughout the world. Think 
of the thousands upon thousands of stately ships fur- 
rowing the ocean, the myriads of locomotives that 
flash over the iron ways, the huge boilers bringing 
movement to countless factories; their combined 
average energy is not equal to that running to waste 
at the '' Roaring of the Waters." 

Now, were Niagara situated in some desolate, 
sterile, Arctic region, the eyes of engineers would still 
turn longingly to its enormous power. Nature has, 

15 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

however, dealt kindly with the human race in placing 
the Falls where they are : in a healthful country teem- 
ing with natural resources, among peoples of super- 
abundant energy. It would be almost less a matter 
for surprise were the waters to leap upwards, than 
that the enterprising American and Canadian should 
fail to utilise the vast power flowing past his doors. 
Niagara Falls are the right thing in the right place. 
The time has come when toll can be taken of those 
rushing waters. Electricity, the Genius of the twen- 
tieth century, has long burst its swaddling bands, and 
can be united to water in a most advantageous part- 
nership. 

Ever since the first saw-mill was set up at Niagara 
in 1725, the idea of subjecting some part of the enor- 
mous power of the Falls to industrial uses has stirred 
the inventive faculty of engineers and manufacturers. 
Early in the eighteenth century they cast about for a 
means of harnessing this lavish provision of nature, 
but the scientific knowledge of the world had not yet 
sufficiently advanced. In the nineteenth century 
steam and steam-power made such progress that 
manufacturers quitted the riverside for the coal-field. 
But the advantages of water were not forgotten. In 
1842 we find Augustus Porter, one of the principal 
proprietors of Niagara, proposing a system of canals 
to the high bluffs overlooking the Falls, whence the 
water might fall over large wheels to drive the 
machinery of mills. As a result of continuous ne- 
gotiations a syndicate of gentlemen obtained a right to 

16 



The Harnessing of Niagara 

construct a canal 35 feet wide, 8 feet deep, and 4400 
feet long, from the water of the Upper Niagara River 
to these bluffs, where, by 1885, the available capacity 
of the canal was being converted into some 10,000 
horse-power. 

Still greater projects were to follow. Mr. Thomas 
Evershed, an engineer who has done noble work in 
protecting the Falls from utilitarian desecration, was 
called upon the same year (1885) to develop a plan 
whereby the beauty of the Falls might be preserved, 
and at the same time a large bulk of water turned to 
practical purposes. He conceived the idea of tapping 
the Niagara above the Falls, precipitating the water 
into a huge pit, where machinery would be stationed, 
and carrying the waste away through a large tunnel, 
nearly ij miles long, to an outlet below the Falls. 
His plan was strongly opposed as impracticable, but 
in spite of discouragement eight gentlemen of Niagara 
obtained from the New York Legislature in 1886 a 
special charter, granting the right to take from the 
upper river sufficient water to develop 200,000 horse- 
power. A second concession, of a later date, from 
the Canadian Government, permits the same Com- 
pany — now known as the Niagara Falls Power Com- 
pany — to draw from the Canadian side an additional 
quarter million of horse-power. It has been estimated 
that the difference of level made at the edge of the 
Falls by the withdrawal of all this water will be but a 
few inches, not enough to detract in any way from 
the scenic effect of Niagara. 

17 B 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

The Company also bought land extending for about 
2j miles along the river, intending to lease or sell it 
for factories as soon as the plant was in working 
order, and to erect on it a residential quarter for the 
operatives. 

On paper the Company's prospects were decidedly 
attractive. Their total horse-power represented more 
than a third of the total produced by water in the 
States in 1880. Niagara was within a night's journey 
of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, Chicago, 
Pittsburg, Toronto, and Montreal. Within a radius 
of 400 miles dwelt one-fifth of the population of the 
States. It was the natural port of the great Lakes. 
It also lay in the neighbourhood of the great coal- 
fields. This last consideration raised the question — 
" Could Niagara power compete successfully with 
steam-made power ? " After careful consideration 
the Company decided that it certainly could, and 
might even be carried at a profit into the coal-fields 
themselves. 

As soon as great financiers had lent their names 
and support to the undertaking, the officers and 
directors of the Company proceeded to attack the 
problem of how best to convert the water they had 
permission to control into energy. The problem, 
says Mr. L. B. Stillwell, electrical engineer of the 
Company, was one ^^ without precedent in its magni- 
tude, and almost without parallel in its significance." 
The promoters of the scheme made up their minds to 
spare no expense or trouble to ensure the installation 

18 



The Harnessing of Niagara 

of the best machinery in the best possible manner 
then known. They called in to their aid leading 
engineers and electricians of all countries, thus ex- 
hibiting a breadth of policy superior to all motives 
of national prejudice. 

As regards the method of supplying and carrying 
off the power water, it was finally decided to con- 
struct a surface canal above the Falls, 250 feet wide at 
the mouth, and running into the land for a distance 
of 1500 feet to the site of the power-houses, the latter 
to contain eventually machinery capable of delivering 
50,000 horse-power. A wheel-pit would there be dug 
to a depth of 178 feet, and connected at the bottom 
with a tunnel 7000 feet in length, having a slope of 
6 feet in a 1000, and a maximum horse-shoe section of 
21 feet by 18 feet 10 inches. Water would flow 
through the tunnel to the outlet below the Falls at 
a rate of a little less than 20 miles an hour. 

The questions of machinery and power distribution 
were not settled so easily. In the first place, the 
forms of turbine most popular at that time did not 
appear convenient for the installation in question ; in 
the second, given a most efficient turbine, how was 
the 5000 horse-power developed by it to be brought 
to the surface many feet above ? in the third, how 
was the power, when delivered at the surface, to be 
distributed in the neighbourhood and at a distance ? 

The Company did a very wise thing. Instead of 
sitting down and trying to think the matter out by 
themselves, they appointed an International Com- 

19 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

mission, consisting of Sir William Thomson (now 
Lord Kelvin) as chairman, Dr. Coleman Sellers, of 
Philadelphia, Lieut.-Col. Turrettini, of Geneva, Prof. 
G. Mascart, of the College of France, and Prof. 
William Cawthorne Unwin, Dean of the Central 
Institute of the Guilds of the City of London. This 
commission, established in London, was empowered 
to obtain records of all sorts that should help to solve 
the three problems now before the Directors of the 
Company, and to award $22,000 (^^4400) in prizes. 
'^ Inquiries and examinations concerning the best 
known existing methods of development and trans- 
mission in England, France, Switzerland, and Italy, 
were made personally by the officers and engineers of 
the Company, and competitive plans were received 
from twenty carefully selected engineers, designers, 
manufacturers, and users of 'power in England and 
the Continent of Europe, and also in America." ^ 

The first important result of this commission was 
that Messrs. Faesch & Piccard, of Geneva, were selected 
to design the turbines. The character of a turbine is 
probably widely known to the public, but to prevent 
any possible misconception we may here state that a 
turbine is composed of a number of vanes set spoke- 
wise round an axis, and enclosed in a cylinder in such 
a fashion that all water passing through the cylinder 
must push the vanes aside in its course, imparting to 
them and their axis a circular motion. In order to 



^ Cassiey's Magazine. 
20 



The Harnessing of Niagara 

make the water more effective; fixed vanes are attached 
rigidly to the cylinder walls at a short distance from 
the moving vanes, so as to deflect the water on to the 
latter at the most efficient angle. The turbine prin- 
ciple has lately been employed largely with steam to 
drive torpedo-destroyers and merchant vessels at high 
speed, and to supply motive force for dynamos and 
the ventilating fans of mines. 

The Niagara turbines are about five feet in diameter, 
and have a vertical axis. A peculiarly ingenious 
feature of their construction is that they are made in 
two storeys, as it were, the top vanes the larger, and 
that the water from the penstocks, or supply pipes, is 
made to enter between the two sets. The pressure 
against the upper vanes being greater than that 
against the lower vanes, the turbine is endowed with 
sufficient lifting power to support the entire weight of 
all the revolving parts, namely the wheels, the vertical 
shaft, and the revolving parts of the generator driven 
by the wheel. 

The mention of the shaft brings us to the second 
point under investigation — the best means of bringing 
5000 horse-power from the point of development to 
the surface. For this purpose it was decided to 
employ a shaft of steel tubes 38 inches in diameter, 
contracting at intervals into a solid bar 11 inches in 
diameter, to run in journals for the sake of steadiness. 

At the upper end of the shaft should be placed — 
what ? The answering of this question demanded the 
most careful investigation. In 1890 there were people 

21 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

to plead for four different methods of power trans- 
mission. Some could point to the good work done 
at Schaffhausen and elsewhere by turbines driving 
manilla and wire ropes ; others to Geneva, where 
turbines transmitted hydraulic pressure for consider- 
able distances through pipes. At Paris, again, the 
compressed-air system had been largely developed, 
and in America this method had a stout champion in 
George Westinghouse, the famous inventor of the 
air-brake for trains. The fourth method — that of 
transmission by electricity — could, however, produce 
the best credentials : a particularly good proof of its 
reliability being afforded at Domene in the Dauphiny 
Alps. The power for a paper-mill is there drawn 
from a glacier in the mountain four miles away, where 
the power-house is inaccessible for three months of 
the year. In spite of sleet and snow, and storms and 
intense cold, the conducting wires do their duty con- 
tinuously and well, with great profit to the owner of 
the mill to which they supply power. 

As the Niagara plant was to be on an unprece- 
dented scale the dynamos were of unequalled capacity, 
able to produce currents in large quantities. These 
generators differed from the usual type in one very 
important particular, viz., that the position of the 
stationary and moving parts was reversed at Niagara. 
It is customary for the armature — a series of coils of 
insulated wire— -to be rotated rapidly inside a circular 
ring, called the field-ring, to the inner face of which 
are attached a number of powerful magnets. In the 

22 



The Harnessing of Niagara 

Niagara installation the armature is fixed, and the 
field-ring made to revolve. We may assume that the 
armature in question resembles a huge cake with a 
large hole cut through the centre. The turbine shaft 
is extended to pass through the cake and project some 
distance above it, ending in a taper which fits tightly 
into a hole in the centre of a horizontal plate or 
*' driver " of rather larger diameter than the armature. 
The field-ring is bolted tightly on to the edge of the 
driver, and the shaft, driver and ring have together a 
decided resemblance to a Chinese umbrella, the turbine 
shaft representing the handle, the driver the top, the 
ring the hanging sides. It is a noble umbrella indeed, 
the carrying of which would need the sinews of a 
small Celestial army. Its weight is 79,000 lbs., or 
about 35 English tons; this includes the shaft, the 
driver, and the ring with its pole-pieces and bobbins, 
each of which weighs more than a ton. The whole 
revolves at a rate of 250 revolutions a minute, giving 
a fly-wheel effect of 1,274,000,000 lbs. One advantage 
of this arrangement is therefore obvious, that the 
need of a special fly-wheel, as originally designed, is 
done away with : another is that the magnetic attrac- 
tion between the field magnets and the armature acts 
against the centrifugal force tending to burst the ring, 
and so increases the " factor of safety " of the ring. 

This last is worthy of a few lines to itself. Its 
diameter is 1 1 feet 7 J inches, its depth about 4 feet. 
The ring is forged in one piece without weld from a 
nickel steel ingot, 54 inches in diameter and more 

23 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

than i6 feet long, through the centre of which a hole 
was bored preparatory to expansion on a mandrel 
under a 14,000-ton hydraulic press. The Bethlehem 
Iron Company was responsible for the forging, and 
the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Com- 
pany for the trueing and turning-up on their mam- 
moth lathes. 

The Niagara Falls Power Company have on the 
American shore two power-houses. Each is designed 
to accommodate ten generators, giving a combined 
output of 50,000 horse-power. The one is finished 
and in full working, the other rapidly approaches 
completion. Beneath the stately row of dynamos, 
which we see on entering a power-house, yawns the 
wheel pit, 463 feet long, 20 broad, 180 deep — a huge 
slot cut out of solid rock. If we are permitted to 
descend we find men busy attending to the bearings, 
watching that the oil-supply keeps down their tem- 
perature to the proper figure. Near the bottom the 
turbines hum on their platforms of stout steel girders 
spanning the gulf, and fling vast quantities of water 
into the nether darkness, whence it finds a path through 
a side tunnel into the great main tunnel that occupied 
1000 men continuously for more than three years, 
in the removal of over 300,000 tons of rock, and the 
placing of 16,000,000 bricks for lining. Near the 
portal the grade falls very suddenly, so as to permit 
the discharge of one-half of the flow from the tunnel 
below the surface of the Rapids. 

In the power-house, flanking the generators, stand 

24 



The Harnessing of Niagara 

two platforms of white enamelled brick, each nearly 
20 yards long and some 13 feet wide, surmounted by 
eight upright stands, on the face of which are many 
indicating instruments. These structures are techni- 
cally known as the switchboards, to each of which is 
conveyed the total 25,000 horse-power from a group 
of five generators. *' The switchboards are the main 
nerve-centres of the plant from which its various 
functions are directed and controlled. Upon them 
are located instruments and appliances by means of 
which the attendant is always informed as to the 
output and voltage of the various generators, and 
which indicate instantly the nature and, within certain 
limits, the location of any disturbance in any part of 
the system. ... In front of the attendant are half a 
hundred levers controlling pneumatically the great 
dynamo and feeder switches and auxiliary switches. 
. . . Here, by a crook of the finger, the attendant can 
at will cut off instantly the entire supply or any 
portion of it."^ 

In comparison with the power handled, the number 
of men required to control it is small. But the well- 
being of so many thousands depends on the small 
band in the power-house, that it becomes an absolute 
necessity for each man to be specially trained, alert, 
resourceful to meet any emergency that may arise. 
The working of the generators goes on night and day, 
and the employes are therefore divided into three 

^ Mr. Philip B. Barton, in Gassier^ s Magazine, 

25 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

shifts of eight hours each. At the head of each shift 
is the electrician-in-charge, whose particular duty is to 
operate the two main switchboards, and his post — the 
captain's bridge of the plant, as it has happily been 
called — is switchboard Number One. An assistant 
electrician has charge of switchboard Number Two ; 
a shift foreman is responsible for the operation of the 
motive-power plant, having under him oilers to tend 
the bearings, labourers to keep the inlet racks to the 
penstocks free from eel-grass, ice and drift, and the 
man who looks after the elevator in the wheel-pit. 
other officials are in attendance to repair the 
machinery at any point, whether hydraulic or elec- 
trical, and attend to the telephone, through which 
important orders may come at any moment. 

The current manufactured by the generators may 
be used either locally or at a distance. In the former 
case the pressure, or voltage, is that of the generators, 
but for transmission to distant places such as Tona- 
wanda or Buffalo, 20 miles off, it would be unprofit- 
able to use so low a pressure, on account of the loss 
that results from the resistance of the conducting 
cables. The current is therefore '' stepped-up," or 
increased in intensity, to 11,000 or 22,000 volts, just as 
water or gas is pumped at very high pressures through 
long pipes. On reaching the receiving end of the 
transmission cable it is '^ stepped-down,'' or reduced, 
by transformers for local uses, and converted, if 
necessary, from alternating to direct current. 

Niagara power was first sent to Buffalo in i896, 

26 



The Harnessing of Niagara 

The cables are slung on stout poles 35 to 65 feet 
high, placed about 60 feet apart. Porcelain insulators 
of unusual size are employed to protect the cables 
from leakage, and in order to maintain an efficient 
guard of the line, the Niagara Falls Power Company 
has purchased a strip of land 30 feet wide reaching 
from the Falls to Buffalo. The line is patrolled night 
and day by men who are able to communicate by 
telephone with headquarters. 

At the Buffalo Exposition of 190 1 was witnessed 
the most magnificent display of electric illumination 
that ever gladdened the eyes of man. The central 
point of the display was the electric tower surmounted 
by a superb figure of the Goddess of Liberty. Several 
hundred thousands of eight candle-power lamps had 
been arranged along the angles and edges of the 
building and its chief architectural details. At a given 
signal the operator in the electricity building started a 
small motor, controlling a worm gear that slowly 
poured into the lamps the whole of the power taken 
from a generator at roaring Niagara, 20 miles away. 
The gradual change in myriads of lamps from faint 
luminescence to full incandescence came as a revela- 
tion of beauty to the thousands of spectators in the 
grounds below ; and soon after a huge searchlight 
swept the horizon, even to the mighty cataract from 
which it derived its force. 

The purposes to which Niagara power is already 
turned are legion. The population of the north-west 
corner of New York State has become dependent for 

27 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

many conveniences and comforts on the energy 
issuing in vast quantities from the grey Hmestone 
power-houses flanking the sides of the inlet canal. 
Four cities, of a combined population of half a million, 
are lit throughout by Niagara force, which also 
operates their 350 miles of street-car track. In 
Buffalo, the Tonawandas, Lockport, and Niagara 
Falls fifty large manufactories, representing a capital 
of |ioo,ooo,ooo, depend entirely for their success 
upon a constant supply of current from the Com- 
pany's generators. And so efficient is the organisation 
of the Company's plant that during a period of nearly 
three years total interruption of power has occurred 
but once, and then only for eighteen minutes, on 
account of an ice-jam in the river. As the plant is 
increased the possibility of interruption will become 
even slighter, since the switchboards are so arranged 
that the current from any one group of generators can 
be switched in a moment into any supply line. The 
rapidity with which improvements in electrical appa- 
ratus succeed one another may be gauged from the 
fact that, in the second power-house on the American 
side, the five turbines last put in will be of a fixed 
field-ring type — an improved reversion to old practice; 
while on the Canadian side, where tunnel, wheelpit, 
and intake canal for a capacity of 100,000 horse- 
power are being completed, the Company is establish- 
ing dynamos producing the enormous figure of 10,000 
horse-power each. This increase in the size of the 
unit is, of course, the result of proved economy in 

28 



The Harnessing of Niagara 

larger generators, as regards cost per horse-power in 
the construction of the generator, and the turbine to 
drive it, and the space required in wheel-pit and 
power-house. It is possible that in the future we 
shall see far larger generators even than these in 
common use, for the big thing of to-day becomes the 
normal practice of to-morrow. 

We should at least mention, though full details of man- 
agement, construction, &c., are not at the author's dis- 
posal, an independent company — known as the Niagara 
Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company — 
which already develops and sells 35,000 horse-power 
to various industries. This company's power-house is 
situated below the Falls. It draws its supplies from a 
canal that connects the upper river with the edge of 
the bluffs, whence three penstocks, 11 feet in diameter, 
conduct the water 210 feet vertically to fourteen tur- 
bine-wheels of from 2000 to 2500 horse-power each, 
connected directly to generators coupled at each end. 
From these generators the current is led to the top of 
the bank by means of wires and aluminium bars built 
along the side of the penstocks, and thence in under- 
ground subways to various consumers. 

With power so abundant it may well be cheap. In 
how many regions of the world could you, for the sum 
of $8 {£iy I2S.), obtain from year's end to year's end, 
without a break, energy representing one horse- 
power? Having these figures before us we can 
understand why the Pittsburg Reduction Company, 
which controls the aluminium industry of America, 

29 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

left Pittsburg, where good coal costs but 68 cents 
(2S. lod.) a ton, and migrated to Niagara ; and how it 
comes about that many manufacturers can here save 
enough on power in one year to pay for building and 
cost of removal. 

The Company just named produces pure aluminium 
— a metal distinguished by its lightness, beauty, and 
freedom from corrosion — from an oxide of alumina, 
by smelting the latter in carbon-lined retorts which 
act as one terminal of a heavy electric circuit, massive 
carbon rods suspended above the crucibles forming 
the other pole. The Carborundum Company also 
employs intense heat — electric furnaces of to-day are 
used at a temperature of 7000 degrees — to smelt car- 
borundum from its ore into crystals, which are ground 
into powder and pressed into various forms for grind- 
ing purposes as emery, large wheels for shaping tools, 
or tiny discs for smoothing teeth. Among electrolytic 
and electro-chemical processes none are of greater 
interest than the carborundum processes, whereby an 
artificial abrasive is made in much the same way as 
that which brought the diamond into existence. 

Great factories are springing up for the manufacture 
of carbide of calcium, and other chemicals. Thomas 
Edison, the great electrician, has prophesied that 
Niagara will be ''the great electro-chemical centre of 
the world.'' It may already claim that distinction, so 
powerful an ally is an unlimited supply of cheap power 
to the chemist. 

Paper, silver-plate, graphite, lamp, cloth, and steel 

30 



The Harnessing of Niagara 

factories are rapidly rising within sound of the Falls. 
Electricity heats the ovens in the huge establishments 
of the Natural Food Company. At Tonawanda elec- 
tricity saws and planes vast stacks of timber ; at 
Lockport it whirls heavy trains ; at Buffalo it runs 
the street cars, prints one of the leading newspapers, 
handles thousands of tons of cereals, helps in the 
creation of steel bridges, operates refrigerators, sup- 
plies the motive power for great dockyards, tanyards, 
breweries, and pumps. 

At Niagara, as a i:esult of this new-born power, a 
great city is springing up with mushroom speed — a 
city free from smoke, gas, ashes — an ideally clean 
city. Five trunk railways lead westwards from it, 
five to New York, five to Boston. On the comple- 
tion of its docks Niagara will be the eastern terminus 
of the Great Lake basin, at the greatest transhipment 
point of raw material in America. All things augur 
for Niagara a future comparable to the present of 
Chicago. 

It is a matter for thankfulness that the great power 
installations have been so arranged as to leave the 
picturesque beauties of the Falls unharmed. Tourists 
will still find the huge cataract a thing to gaze upon 
with rapt admiration, despite the turbines pulsing 
with mighty energy not far away. The public-spirited 
action of the Company is further seen in the industrial 
village of Echota, which they have built for the em- 
ployes in the factories. A few years ago the eighty- 
four acres on which it stands was water-logged 

31 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

meadowland, subject to inundation by the streams 
that run on two sides of it a few feet below its level. 
The Company therefore built a high dyke all round 
it, and, as it was impossible to raise the area to a 
height at which it would drain readily into the river, 
they instituted a system of deep drainage which, 
traversing the city in all directions, discharges into 
large pits whence the water is pumped into the 
streams. So carefully has this been done that rains 
no longer make the earth heavy and muddy, nor does 
the sun scorch it into cracked clay and dust. Lawns 
and trees flourish, and wet cellars are unknown. 
Broad roads intersect the property on a systematic 
plan, passing between rows of trim houses well pro- 
vided with modern comforts — running water, electric 
light, and a wholesome sanitary system. The streets 
are lit with large clusters of lamps by night. Boughs of 
trees give grateful shadow by day. A frequent service 
of electric cars runs at all hours. And last, but not 
least, rentals are as low as nine dollars a month, light 
and water included. ''The village of Echota has 
been evolved," writes Mr. John Bogart,^ ''in accord- 
ance with the careful study of the men to whom was 
committed the responsibility of the solution of a 
complex problem. A district not fit for comfortable 
residence has been transformed into an ideal healthful 
village. Ground upon which no vegetation would 
thrive has been changed to a region of velvet lawns 

^ In Cassier's Magazine, 

32 



The Harnessing of Niagara 

and blooming gardens. Roads which were a dis- 
comfort from dust, or annoyance from mud, have 
been made into well-paved, beautiful streets. An 
unattractive expanse of poor meadowland has become 
a model town." 

We may here say farewell to the great Niagara 
Falls, and in conclusion turn our thoughts for a 
moment to the Zambesi, where the Victoria Falls, 
twice as broad as those of Niagara, have a sheer drop 
of nearly 400 feet. To-day, in California, power is 
successfully transmitted for nearly 150 miles, and 
with this precedent it is to be hoped and expected 
that in the future water-power available in unequalled 
volumes at ^' the smoke that thunders " will be utilised 
to aid the development of the great mineral resources 
of Rhodesia and South-Central Africa, converting 
what is now semi-explored territory into centres of 
industry. 

Note, — On the Canadian shore there are at present in progress 
two separate undertakings independent of the Niagara Falls 
Power Company, viz. the Ontario Power Company, which is now 
constructing a proposed initial development of 30,000 to 50,000 
horse-power ; and the Toronto Niagara Power Company, which 
has recently commenced the construction of a 50,000 horse- power 
plant. 



33 



CHAPTER II 

THE TAMING OF THE NILE 

To no country in the world does the veil of romance 
cling more closely than to Egypt, that strange, mys- 
terious land of utter barrenness one jostling prodigal 
fertility ; in which huge monuments tell of great by- 
gone races, and proclaim that here was the cradle of 
civilisation and the birthplace of history. 

To visit and explore Egypt is to visit and explore 
the Nile, the huge river that has its beginning at 
the equatorial Nyanzas, and flows northwards three 
thousand miles before its majestic stream discharges 
itself into the waters of the Mediterranean. Countless 
years prior to the advent of man the river hollowed 
out its bed in the plains and through the rocks of 
Eastern Africa, struggling with the thirsty Khamsin- 
swept desert for a narrow strip of verdure on which 
mankind might dwell. In course of time the Land of 
the Nile teemed with a great population that con- 
quered surrounding peoples and left records of their 
victories, their religion, and their kings in the temples 
and tombs that line each bank of the river. Its 
waters were the scene of many a great pageant. In 
the temples hard by the Egyptians did reverence to 
the bounteous Nile, the giver of all good things to 

34 







00 






^ £ 



^ -5 



^ C 






I 



The Taming of the Nile 

them, under the name of Osiris, the God of Life, in 
eternal combat with his murderer Typhon, the demon 
of the desert and personification of Evil itself. 

From the uncertainties of history that begins with 
the very beginnings of history the Nile flows out, 
the life-blood of countless generations that have been 
and of many more to come. It does to-day what it 
did in the days of Rameses and Cheops, of Cambyses, 
Alexander, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon. The great 
conquerors who have floated on its bosom are turned 
to dust, but still every year is seen the wonder of the 
flood rising in summer heat under a cloudless sky, 
overflowing its banks till the adjacent villages are but 
as islands in a watery waste, covering the land with 
its fertilising silt, and then gradually sinking into its 
bed again. The year is divided for the Egyptian into 
three seasons : Summer, when the Nile dwindles to 
its lowest level ; Flood-time, during which the melt- 
ing snows of Abyssinia and the incessant tropical 
rains of the Nyanza basin, thousands of miles away, 
roll in increasing volume down the valley, laden with 
the rich red silt of the Atbara ; and Winter, when 
green crops come up as if by magic on the sinking 
of the flood, and the corn crops are sown for the 
harvest in March. 

The anxiety with which the rising of the Nile is 
watched may be appreciated by those who have ex- 
perienced a season of drought in climes usually 
blessed with an abundant rainfall. They, however, 
keep their eyes fixed on the heavens for the clouds 

35 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

that are long delayed, or roll over without shedding 
the dew of heaven ; the Egyptian looks at his feet, 
watching the rise of the waters. The Nilometer is 
the arbiter of his fortunes. The ordinary rise at 
Cairo is about 24 feet, less is insufficient, more brings 
danger. A rise of 18 or 20 feet spells famine ; a flood 
of 30 feet means ruin. 

The silt, deposited at the rate of some 5 inches 
a century, is of an extraordinary productiveness. 
*' Wherever the soil is fairly cultivated and properly 
watered, it amply repays the toil of the husbandman, 
yielding luxuriant crops of tobacco, cotton, sugar- 
cane, and indigo. Among the shallows of Lake 
Menzaleh lingers the once-prized papyrus. In the 
beautiful valley of Faioum myriads of roses burden 
the air with fragrance ; and every peasant's tiny nook 
of ground affords a supply of leeks, garlic, melons, 
and cucumbers." 

Acres of sunny corn-fields are contiguous to the 
eternal barrenness of the desert. It has been truly 
said that if the soil of Egypt be but tickled with a 
hoe it will laugh with a harvest ; a quality that has 
made it, like India, the scene of much contention for 
its possession. 

During a great part of the year the Egyptian is 
like a man ushered into a treasure-house from which 
he may carry only what his hands can hold. The 
Nile flows past his home in vast volume, amply suffi- 
cient for the needs of the whole country were it but 
available in a constant supply and in all spots of the 

36 



The Taming of the Nile 

long, narrow valley that is the true Egypt. For cen- 
turies, at low Nile, the farmer has been obliged to 
ladle water painfully to upper levels by means of the 
primitive '' shadoof,'' or pole-bucket, and discharge 
it into the myriad canals and ditches that intersect 
his property. The English farmer is happy in being 
able to exclude from the list of his burdens that of 
lifting water on to his land at the cost of some fifty 
shillings an acre. *'It will be seen," says Sir Benjamin 
Baker, " what a vast amount of human labour is saved 
throughout the world by the providential circum- 
stance that in ordinary cases water tumbles down 
from the clouds and has not, as in Egypt, to be 
dragged up from channels and wells." 

Now, though the Egyptian is probably doomed to 
expend a great portion of the sweat of his brow on 
this task of watering, Western science has come to 
the aid of the '^ unchanging East." The same neces- 
sity that drove the ancient Pharaohs to the construc- 
tion of canals and reservoirs has, during the last half 
century, exercised the thoughts of those responsible 
for the welfare of Egypt. The scheme has been 
gradually evolved of putting a bridle upon the Nile, 
to check its course somewhat during flood-time and 
rescue some of its surplus water from the Mediter- 
ranean against the season of greatest need. To a 
Frenchman, Meugel Bey, belongs the honour of 
having first spanned the stream, below Cairo, with a 
barrage. This work consists of two brick arched 
viaducts crossing the Rosetta and Damietta branches 

37 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

of the Nile, containing 132 arches of 16 feet 14 inches 
span, which are closed during the summer by iron 
sluices, so as to retain on the upper side a head of 
15 extra feet of water, to be thrown into the main 
irrigation canals below Cairo. The building of the 
barrage occupied fifteen years, and another twenty 
passed before it could be considered in satisfactory 
working order. The chief difficulty of construction 
arose from the unstable nature of the matter below 
the foundations, through which the water forced its 
way, despite the timber pilings driven deep down into 
the river-bed. At a later date Major Brown, Inspector- 
General of Irrigation in Lower Egypt, found it 
expedient to relieve the pressure on the old barrage 
by constructing auxiliary weirs below it, and so raise 
the water level on the lower side. He effected this 
by dropping cement rubble from rafts into a movable 
timber caisson, thus forming solid and contiguous 
masonry blocks from bank to bank. 

The effect of Meugel Bey's great work, hampered 
by the whims of Egyptian officials, and costly in spite 
of forced labour, has been immensely beneficial to 
Lower Egypt. This is sufficiently proved by the fact 
that in 1900 it saved the cotton crop in the Delta 
from utter disaster, and, according to Lord Cromer's 
calculations, has doubled the cotton crop of Egypt, 
an annual gain of ;^5,ooo,ooo. To give the reader an 
idea of the water-retaining capacity of the barrage, it 
may be mentioned that it feeds six canals, the largest 
of which, the central canal, at the apex of the Delta, 

38 



The Taming of the Nile 

carried, even in the drought of June 1900, a volume 
one-fourth greater than that of the Thames in mean 
flood ; and the Ismailieh Canal, running to the Suez 
Canal, was still a river twice as large as the Thames 
at the same season. 

The steamer, or picturesque dahabeah, after passing 
through the huge barrage locks on its way upstream, 
encounters no obstruction for 250 miles, when it 
reaches Assiout, the thriving capital of Upper Egypt, 
lying in a fertile plain at the foot of the Libyan Moun- 
tains. Here is the second step in the staircase of the 
Nile water-scheme, the recently erected barrage, 
rather more than half a mile long, and pierced with 
III arched openings 16 feet 4 inches wide, all of 
which can be closed by steel sluice-gates. The 
barrage measures about 50 feet from front to rear at 
the base, and 47 at the top, along which runs a road- 
way from shore to shore. The whole rests upon a 
platform of concrete and masonry 87 feet wide and 
10 feet deep, which is protected from the undermining 
influence of the water by tongued and grooved iron 
sheets driven down 23 feet into the river-bed, 
made tight at their joints with cement. As a further 
precaution a strip of the bed both up and down 
stream is covered for a width of 67 feet with stone 
pitching, resting on clay puddle and layers of fine 
gravel and pebbles respectively. So that, supposing 
a small quantity of water to have penetrated the 
clay on its upper side, and worked its way right under 
the two fences of iron sheets, its upward course is 

39 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

severely checked, if not annihilated, by the sand 
reinforced by pebbles in turn held down by stone 
blocks. 

Work was commenced at Assiout on December i, 
1898, in the formation of ''sadds/' or dams, surround- 
ing the site of the foundations on the western side. 
By February in the following year everything was 
ready for pumping the water out of the sadds. An 
area of 13 acres being laid dry, men were crowded on 
to drive piles, lay the cement and rubble foundations, 
and build the masonry on them. The next year 
further sadds were made on both sides of the river, 
fresh foundations laid, and the first section continued. 
In 1900, which witnessed nearly one half of the entire 
work, the sadds met in mid-stream, and navigation 
was diverted to a gap purposely left near the east 
bank. The following figures will give an idea of the 
scale of operations during this year : in May and 
June the average number of men at work was 13,000, 
nearly a million and a half sandbags were placed in 
position, more than 100,000 superficial feet of iron 
piling driven, over 90,000 cubic yards of masonry and 
foundations laid, nearly half a million cubic yards 
excavated and filled. To keep the water down in the 
sadds 17 pumps, each throwing a solid column of 
12 inches, were constantly employed, in addition to 
many auxiliary pumps. 

The barrage was completed in the spring of 1902. 
It will, it is estimated, bring under cultivation an 
additional 300,000 acres, supplying their needs by 

40 



The Taming of the Nile 

means of the great Ibrahimiyah Canal, which receives 
water just above the barrage ; and will render more 
effective the work of the Cairo barrage. 

Three hundred and fifty miles above Assiout the 
Nile is once more spanned at Aswan by the huge dam 
which will for centuries be monumental evidence of 
the enterprise of English rulers and of the skill of 
English engineers. 

Aswan, or Assouan, signifies ''the opening." Its 
ancient name was Syene ; and as such it had fame as 
the depot of merchandise passing from north to south, 
as a strategic position at the gates of Nubia, and as 
having in its neighbourhood famous quarries, whence 
came many of the colossal structures of old Egypt. 
The first of the seven so-called cataracts — they are 
really no more than rapids — of the Nile, until recently 
shot between the rocky islands which here unite with 
the towering cliffs that press in towards the river on 
either side. The cataract fell in three stairs, of which 
the uppermost was the most formidable ; and boats 
going upstream had to be towed through rushing 
waters by gangs of half-naked Arabs. A writer has 
thus described the scene: ''The Nile, bending 
abruptly, broadens into a kind of bay, which is shut 
in by the green and lovely island of Elephantine, 
whence an early dynasty of Egyptian kings derived 
their name. The high, bold rocks which rise on 
every hand seem like the boundaries of a lake. On 
the left, nestling under crags, whose summit is 
crowned with ruins, lies the modern village ; in the 

41 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

distance the yellow sandy hills are covered with the 
remains of Saracenic architecture. To the right the 
shattered walls of a convent mark the crest of a sand- 
stone eminence ; and all around between the desert 
and the river, the palm groves cluster in verdurous 
masses. . . . The view from the environing rocks is 
very striking, a view of hill and water, wood and 
lowland ; and beyond, the confused and blown 
hegLps of the rolling sands of the desert. The river 
hurries past in a succession of rapid eddies and foam- 
ing whirls. In their midst lie various black-coloured 
islets, marking the boundary of the cataract/' ^ 

Above the cataract is the island of Philae, the Mecca 
of the ancient Egyptians, who there worshipped at 
the shrines of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, the sacred triad 
of their mythology. In the bed of the cataract, so 
the story ran, lay the body of the murdered Osiris, to 
rise every year in the form of the life-giving flood ; so 
what spot more fit than Philae in which to raise 
magnificent temples to him, his sister-wife, and son? 
Huge ruins still crown the island, colossal propylons, 
shadowy arcades covered with hieroglyphics ; gigantic 
columns, obelisks, and statues, forming so wonderful 
a testimony to Egyptian art that modern travellers 
visit it with an eagerness akin to that of the old-time 
worshippers. 

For the last five years the iron-bound precipices 
that form a stern setting to the lovely island have 

1 W. H. Davenport Adams in "The Land of the Nile." 

42 



The Taming of the Nile 

looked down upon a mighty struggle between Man 
and Nature. For in the heart of the cataract, where 
the waters rush at a speed of fifteen miles an hour, 
has been raised a huge dam from hills to hills, offer- 
ing a broad breast of enormous strength to the hurry- 
ing Nile. Surely imagination kindles at the thought 
of men, so small and weakly, bridling a prince among 
the rivers of the world, despite the silent, unceasing 
hostility of the watery element ! 

To begin the story of the Nile Dam aright we must 
go back to the day when Sir Samuel Baker first sug- 
gested that here, at the ''Gate" through which the 
fertilising flood rushes with maximum force, should 
a gate of masonry be placed. He conceived the idea 
of a series of dams to form reservoirs from Kartoum 
downwards. ''The great work might be commenced 
by a single dam above the first cataract at Aswan, at 
a spot where the river is walled in by granite hills. 
By raising the level of the Nile 60 feet obstructions 
might be buried in the depths of the river, and sluice- 
gates and canals would conduct the shipping up and 
down stream." 

After forty years Sir Samuel's proposal has been 
carried out almost to the letter. Mr. Willcocks, 
formerly Director-General of Reservoirs in Egypt, 
worked at the idea of constructing such a dam for 
years, and after surveying all likely points in the 
valley, came to the same conclusion as the great 
explorer, that Aswan was the most suitable spot. An 
international Committee, consisting of Sir Benjamin 

43 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Baker — already famous for his work on the Forth 
Bridge — Signor Giacomo Torricelli, and M. Auguste 
Boul6, to whom the matter was referred, also arrived 
at the same opinion. Mr. Willcocks accordingly drew 
up plans for a dam, or rather series of curved dams, 
capable of holding back 3700 million cubic metres of 
water. The project unfortunately involved the sub- 
mersion and destruction of the ruins on Philae, and 
on that ground was so vigorously opposed, that fresh 
designs were made, and a single straight dam sub- 
stituted of such a height as to retain 1065 million 
cubic metres — or less than one-third of the original 
estimate. 

The dam is of a most impressive size. From end 
to end it measures a mile and a quarter. Its maximum 
height from lowest foundation to parapet is over 120 
feet. On the upstream side it is perpendicular, on 
the downstream side it thickens downwards from the 
summit, where it has a width of rather more than 16 
feet, with a regular batter of i in i|, which in its 
deepest parts gives it a foundation breadth of 100 
feet. The total weight of masonry is over 1,000,000 
tons. No less than 180 openings pierce it from face 
to face. Of these 140 are 23 feet high by 6 feet 6 
inches broad, and the remaining 40 are 12 feet high 
and of equal width. These openings are closed at 
their upstream ends by steel sluice-gates, working 
mostly on the Stoney roller principle, which enables 
them to be opened by hand even when subjected to 
a pressure of 450 tons. When open they will pass 

44 



The Taming of the Nile 

the entire volume of the Nile in full flood at the rate 
of 15,000 tons per second. The water levels on the 
dam faces differ at the beginning of summer by 67 
feet; and this head of water forms a lake 150 miles 
long, that would reach from London to Nottingham 
and still leave enough over for Thirlmere. 

Sir Benjamin Baker, the consulting engineer to the 
Dam Construction Committee, said in a paper read 
at the Royal Institution, that the quantity of water 
stored in this artificial reservoir may be made to 
appear enormous or trifling according to the stan- 
dard to which it is compared. Thus, on the one 
hand, when we consider that the rainfall within the 
four-mile cab radius from Charing Cross amounts 
to 100 million tons annually, we become aware of 
the insignificance of the reservoir as a substitute for 
a rainfall such as ours over the whole land of Egypt. 
But, on the other hand, when calculation shows that 
the reservoir holds enough water for a full domestic 
supply to every one of the 42 million inhabitants of 
the British Islands, then the vastness of the quantity 
becomes appreciable. And it increases our respect 
for the Nile to learn that in flood-time a volume of 
water equal to the total contents of the reservoir 
passes through the sluices every twenty-four hours. 

As soon as the initial difficulties regarding finance 
had been overcome by the timely aid of Sir Edward 
Cassel, tenders were invited for the construction of 
the dam. Sir John Aird & Co. were the successful 
competitors ; and in February they signed a con- 

45 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

tract, including Messrs. Ransomes & Rapier as sub- 
contractors for the steelwork, to complete the dam 
by July 1903. The foundation stone was laid by 
H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught on February 12, 1899, 
and the dam formally opened by His Royal Highness 
on December 10, 1902, or eight months in advance of 
contract time. The merit of this feat is enhanced 
by the unexpected difficulties that the constructors 
were called upon to cope with from time to time. 

Even the expected difficulties were formidable 
enough. ^' It would not be too much to say," writes 
Sir Benjamin Baker, '* that any practical man stand- 
ing on the verge of one of the cataract channels, 
hearing and seeing the apparently irresistible tor- 
rents of foaming water thundering down, would 
regard the putting in of foundations to a depth of 
40 feet below the bed of the cataract in the short 
season available each year as an appalling under- 
taking." But everything had been carefully thought 
out, and in a short time after the signing of the 
contract, a large tract of the desert adjoining the 
desert was taken possession of^ and on it rose rail- 
ways, houses, offices, machine-shops, stores, and 
hospitals. Soon thousands of natives and European 
workmen transformed the solitude into a busy town. 

The islands across which the dam runs were sub- 
merged at flood-time, but in summer only a few 
channels passed the water. These, naming them 
in order from east to west, are : the Bab-el-Kebir, 
the Bab-el-Harum, the Bab-el-Saghaiyar, the Central 

46 



The Taming of the Nile 

Channel, and the West Channel — the last two the 
widest. Through them the water rushed at a pace 
exceeding the fastest progress of a University crew 
The question arose how to block these channels in 
such a manner that the site of the foundations could 
be pumped dry. Recourse must be had — as at Assi- 
out — to " sadds/' but under very different conditions. 
It was therefore determined to build stone sadds at 
the lower end of the channels from island to island, 
before high Nile, and, when comparatively still water 
had thus been secured above them, to form sand-bag 
sadds at the entrances ; so that when the flood had 
subsided pumping operations might be at once begun. 
The Kebir, Harum, and Saghaiyar channels were 
attacked first. Huge stones, weighing up to four 
tons, were lowered into the current by cranes ; but 
such was the momentum of the water that even they 
were carried away. It was therefore found necessary 
to enclose several blocks at a time in large nets of 
steel wire ; and on occasions when this method 
proved ineffective the engineers adopted even more 
heroic measures, and shot into the stream railway 
trucks laden with granite blocks lashed tightly to- 
gether by wire ropes. These masses, weighing up- 
wards of 50 tons, acted as a ^^ toe," or lodgment, for 
smaller bodies, and at last patience was rewarded by 
the appearance of the temporary dams above the 
surface. Cement and sand were then tipped in on 
the upstream side to work in among the stones and 
fill all interstices. The completed stone sadds were 

47 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

22 feet wide on top, thickening rapidly downwards to 
a maximum depth of 50 feet. 

Full Nile put them severely to the test ; for after 
its subsidence steel rails were found strangely twisted, 
and the surface of the stones was like that of polished 
marble. As soon as the summits were exposed by 
the sinking flood, huge numbers of sandbags were 
thrown into the entrances of the channels, forming 
dams 16 feet wide at top and 55 deep. Since the 
flood of 1899 was unusually low, the temporary dams 
were carried across the ends of the Central Channel 
as well, and completed in February 1900. 

Pumping then commenced. Many large 12-inch 
centrifugal pumps got to work and, as Sir Benjamin 
Baker admits, the engineers watched the result with 
great anxiety, as no one could predict whether it 
would be possible thus to dry the river-bed. For- 
tunately for the progress of the dam, the sadds stood 
the test remarkably well. In one day the Bab-el- 
Kebir was emptied of all but a small leakage 
easily nullified by a single pump ; the Bab - el - 
Harum, the Bab - el - Saghaiyar, and the Central 
Channel being equally amenable. By March 1900 
the contractors were hard at work on the excavation 
of the drained surfaces, cutting down until hard, firm 
rock was reached. Great trouble resulted from the 
fact that in three channels an unexpected depth of 
schistous formation had to be removed. The Bab-el- 
Kebir especially furnished a great quantity of extra 
work, inasmuch as the rock had to be excavated to 

48 



The Taming of the Nile 

a point 38 feet below the level of the contract draw- 
ings, and the '^ batter '' of the walls being maintained 
of necessity, the foundation breadth at this place was 
100 feet instead of about 70. 

This delay, as serious as it was unexpected, aroused 
the contractors to tremendous efforts to make up for 
lost time, and raise the masonry to a sufficient height 
before the following flood-time. In June work was 
carried on day and night, brilliant arc lights replacing 
the sun at sunset. 

A contributor to the Daily Mail has graphically 
described the scene : 

''Orders are given for all workers to assemble at 
6.30 for 7 A.M. duty. At seven the engineer takes his 
coffee and roll, lights a cigarette, and is swiftly driven 
to his work by fleet runners from his own door, and 
landed practically in the centre of activity. 

*' Arrived on the barrage, or dam, a knot of '' sheikhs" 
and '^reis'' greet him with the courtly Eastern salaam, 
and shortly after may be seen speeding towards the 
various quarters of the works. Maybe 1000 men are 
at work, each section under its particular chief, the 
fellaheen from near Cairo, famous stone-dressers and 
masons for centuries back — so far back that the vista 
of ages grows dim ; these are attended by boys in 
picturesque '^ galabeahs,'' carrying water, and very 
often by women gracefully bearing boxes of '^hom- 
rah,'' or mortar, on their heads. Bedouin and 
fellaheen work like ants at the rough work, and 
dark-skinned, smiling, good-natured Sudanese ram 

49 D 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

the concrete as it is placed in position, as if they 
took the whole thing as a huge joke. 

'^As the work proceeds one presently hears the 
Arabs and Sudanese (once, and not long ago, masters 
and slaves, as the remains of the Cairo slave-market, 
now in ruins, testify) chanting some of their melan- 
choly and weird dirges, throwing great heaps of 
undressed stone from one place to another, which, 
as one looks, becomes spread out into the evenness 
of a revetment wall, or, neatly dressed, becomes the 
facing of the dam. Here and there, under broad 
sun-helmets, like tall mushrooms, may be found a 
wily Greek or fexcitable Italian, acting as a useful 
lieutenant to, and directing the work being executed 
by, the solitary Englishman perched yonder on an 
elevation of masonry, apparently an idle spectator, 
and yet seeing all, and occasionally acting as judge 
in the many disputes arising between the different 
factions. 

"Ceaselessly the work goes forward, drowned by 
the equally ceaseless chant, till twelve noon, when up 
goes the Egyptian flag to the top of the flag-pole, and 
work ceases until one p.m. Away fly the Europeans 
on trolleys, the " reis " and " sheiks " on donkeys, to 
their homes for dinner, and the long-wished for 
'Mrink'' poor Steevens so well described. The trol- 
leys, propelled by gaily-clad runners, shouting "Oh, 
ah, riglak " (" Mind your feet ! '') at the top of their 
lungs, till one wonders where the breath is coming 
from for the next call : a company of red and white 

50 







S 6 

it P 






O ii 

00 u 






The Taming of the Nile 

turbans move off to one spot, another of close-fitting 
brown skull-caps, representing the fellaheen, tear off, 
scampering like children, to another locality, and 
the rear of this motley crowd is generally brought 
up by the more dignified company of inky-black 
Sudanese, who at once seek the encampment where 
their wives are (without whom they never travel any 
distance). 

''Amid ceaseless chattering and gesticulating a 
hearty meal is made — off what, ye British workmen ? 
Simply a few cucumbers or turnip-tops, two or 
three lettuces, perhaps ; and this, with a bowl of 
lentils, and the puffed-out flat cakes of the East, 
washed down with muddy Nile water, constitutes 
for them an excellent meal. Possibly, if in season, 
a piece of sugar-cane fulfils the same object. This 
lordly repast being over, the chattering ceases, the 
burnooses are brought out from a pile, spread over 
their bodies, face and all, and they sleep till two o'clock. 

" By 2.5 P.M. all hands have fallen to again, to work 
without break till 5.30 P.M., with the blazing sun over- 
head blistering all that it touches. Still the ceaseless 
'chip-chip' of the mason, the thud of the rammers, 
the clank of the divers' air-pumps, the monotonous 
sing-song, and the shriek of diminutive railway 
engines, till the magic hour of 5.30, when up goes 
such a shout from the throats of 1000 men as might 
raise their departed ancestors for generations back, 
and the shrill Mu lu ' of the women, and the Egyptian 
crescent once more floats in the cool evening breeze. 

51 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Hundreds of devout worshippers drop about in all 
directions, having spread their prayer-mats, turn their 
faces to Mecca, and give their fervent thanks to Allah, 
swinging backwards and forwards like the stalks of a 
cornfield. 

^' Then takes place one of the most interesting 
functions of the day. On a strip of sand left dry by 
Father Nile, three or four circles of crouching figures 
are formed, with a ' reis ' in the centre of each, and 
every fifth man sitting forward receives the pay of the 
five from a large bag of coin, and distributes it directly 
after ; meanwhile the scribe, generally a Copt, stand- 
ing at the elbow of the paymaster, ticks off the payees' 
names. As each circle is paid off it dissolves into 
a crowd of happy children making for the bazaar, 
there to indulge in the nightly fantasia and the ever- 
lasting tap of the tom-toms. ... 

''At the hoisting of the flag at 5.30 p.m. a solitary 
figure is rowed away down the old river, the head- 
piece and mover of this vast machinery of humanity, 
and if one could look through the lattice window of 
his room two hours after, one would see a picturesque 
group of gaily-dressed Arab sheikhs and reis standing 
round that one man of a foreign race making reports 
and receiving them till midnight strikes, when this 
representative of the Dominant Power encloses him- 
self within his mosquito curtains with a ' Kullu khalass 
el naborda kullu leyleh,' and the height of the dam 
has risen two feet within the last twenty-four hours." 

By the end of 1900, the most momentous year in 

52 



The Taming of the Nile 

the history of the dam, the back of the work had been 
broken. The amount of excavation then amounted 
to 577,515 cubic metres, and the masonry to 239,468, 
or about two-thirds of the whole. In the following 
year the west channel was closed, and foundations 
were laid up to the western shore, where they met the 
northern end of the great navigation lock, which is in 
itself a large piece of engineering. 

The lock contains four steps controlled by five 
huge gates 32 feet wide and 60 feet high. Instead of 
being placed in pairs, meeting at an angle in the 
middle — as in river locks of the usual type — these 
gates are hung from the top on rollers, and slide 
sideways like a coach-house door into recesses in the 
flank of the lock. This arrangement was adopted 
for safety's sake ; the two uppermost gates being 
made sufficiently strong to withstand the whole head 
of 67 feet of water if suddenly called upon to do so. 

At highest flood the ruins on the Island of Philae 
are partially submerged, and a general saturation of 
the silt and mud, of which the island is composed, 
takes place. Measures were therefore taken, under 
the superintendence of Dr. Ball and Mr. Mat Talbot, 
to protect the monuments from the risk of settlement, 
by underpinning the most important parts down to 
solid rock, or at least to a point below the saturation 
level. So that we may hope that for many years to 
come modern engineering, as represented by the 
colossal dam, may not be blamed as the destroyer 
of ancient art. 

53 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

When the river is rising the sluices will all be opened 
to permit the free passage of the silt-laden water. 
After the flood, when the discharge of the Nile has 
diminished to 2000 tons a second, the sluices will 
gradually be closed, and the Nile slowly mount the 
upper side of the dam. In May, June, and July the 
water will be doled out to the farmers. Huge though 
the storage is it is not abundant, and in order that 
those enjoying it may be fairly treated, the Government 
of Egypt has bound down the population to a long 
list of most elaborate regulations, which forbid even 
the drawing of water in buckets except at the 
appointed time. 

Already schemes are under discussion for additional 
dams further up the Nile to extend the benefits con- 
ferred by the works here described. The revenue 
and prosperity of Egypt are so closely bound up with 
the question of water, that with men of the stamp 
of Lord Cromer and Sir William Garstin at the head 
of affairs, we may look at no distant date for new 
developments possibly approaching in importance the 
construction of the Great Nile Dam itself. 



54 



CHAPTER III 

DAMS AND AQUEDUCTS 

Probably few of us whose houses are connected 
with a public water-supply give much thought, as 
we watch the crystal-clear liquid issuing from a tap, 
to the journey that it has taken from the point where 
man first gathered it for his own. Yet, perhaps, it 
has come many a mile through pipes and tunnels, 
been flung into reservoirs, strained, filtered, passed 
again into pipes, first for the town, then for the street, 
lastly for the house, until, still fresh from its moun- 
tain stream or subterranean cave, it emerges into the 
unromantic surroundings of the bathroom or back- 
kitchen. 

Our direct experience of the mechanical side of a 
water-supply is usually confined to the operations 
so often seen in the minor veins that multiply towards 
its urban extremity. We know only too well the 
doings of the plumber, and of the labourer who 
converts the smooth surface of our roads into a 
dangerous succession of hills and valleys. The con- 
sequent bills and rates are apt to blind us to the real 
romance and magnitude of the work needful to give 
us our daily water. We must trace the system back- 
wards from our doors, through mains of increasing 

55 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

size, to the very heart and arteries, before we realise 
how nobly the brain of engineer and muscle of 
artisan have been employed, in the cause of health 
and sanitation, on undertakings about which but 
a few of those who are directly benefited possess 
more than a shadowy knowledge or proper appre- 
ciation. 

Those wonderful old builders, the Romans, have 
shown us, by the stately march of their aqueducts 
across plain and valley, that the question of a good 
water-supply for large towns pressed even in their 
days. Since then the problem has become in- 
creasingly difficult in thickly-populated countries, 
on account of the artificial contamination of streams 
and strata by the processes of manufacture. And 
while, on the one hand, we see the engineer driven 
further afield for his source of supply, on the other 
we notice that the demand for an ever greater con- 
sumption per head is pushed vigorously by common- 
sense and scientific consideration. 

The daily supply of London has reached the 
enormous total of 200 milUon gallons, drawn from 
the New River, the Thames, and subterranean sources. 
During the last few years the Metropolis has experi- 
enced the inconveniences and dangers of a water- 
famine, which have turned mens' eyes to schemes 
discussed in 1866, of tapping the waters of the Welsh 
valleys, collecting it in huge reservoirs, and bringing 
it across country by pipe-lines 180 miles long, at a 
cost of ;^i 2,000,000 ; or of pressing into the service 

56 



Dams and Aqueducts 

the Westmoreland lakes, with their available storage 
of some 36,000 milHon gallons, and connecting them 
with London by 270 miles of pipes, at an outlay of 
13J million pounds. 

For their boldness these schemes may compare 
with that of the Parisians to fetch supplies from the 
Swiss lakes, across 300 miles of France. At present, 
none of these projects have come to anything ; and 
the first two have let slip an opportunity, since 
Manchester now draws from Thirlmere, and Liver- 
pool and Birmingham from the Welsh area earmarked 
for London. 

In the following pages it is proposed to describe at 
short length the construction of the huge pipe-lines 
that help to supply our three largest provincial 
towns. 

We will first turn our eyes to Thirlmere in West- 
moreland, a picturesque little lake of a natural area of 
328^ acres. Previous to 1894, the great cotton city 
drew its water from Longdendale, a valley situated 
about eighteen miles east, through which flows the river 
Etherow, one of the principal tributaries of the Mersey. 
The reservoirs, of a storage capacity of some 6000 
million gallons, collect the water of 19,000 acres, and 
deliver about 25 million gallons a day to the inhabitants 
of Manchester. The rate of consumption increased 
so rapidly between 1856 and 1875 that the Corpora- 
tion foresaw a shortage unless a further area were 
laid under contribution ; and after an examination of 
various sources, it adopted a scheme for impounding 

57 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Thirlmere, and leading its waters 96 miles to the great 
reservoirs at Prestwich. 

An Act of Parliament authorising the scheme was 
obtained in May 1879 ; and six years later the glens 
of Westmoreland began to resound to the snort of 
engines and clink of hammers. A huge retaining 
wall gradually rose across the north end of the lake, 
where it found an outlet into the St. John's Beck. 
The dam is divided into two portions by a small 
rocky eminence, through which surplus and compen- 
sation water is discharged by means of a tunnel 12 
feet wide and 9 feet high. This tunnel is closed by 
a transverse masonry wall, pierced with two 36-inch, 
and one 18-inch pipes, controlled by valves actuated 
by hydraulic and hand-power. 

The dam is driven down throughout its length to 
solid rock, reaching a maximum depth of 50 feet 
below the river-bed ; at which point, as it rises 50 feet 
above the lake, it has a height of 100 feet. 

The increase of depth in the lake thus artificially 
produced gives a total storage capacity of 8,130,686,693 
gallons ; but for present purposes only 20 feet of 
extra depth is necessary for the supply of Manchester. 
As occasion dictates the level of the overflow will be 
raised, and a larger body of water impounded. 

The most interesting part of the scheme is the 
Aqueduct, which brings the limpid stream from under 
the lofty crest of Helvellyn to a point four miles out- 
side Manchester. 

The Romans, to whom iron piping was unknown, 

58 



Dams and Aqueducts 

led their aqueducts across valleys on tiers of arches, 
built at the cost of much labour. The modern en- 
gineer is able to adopt the simpler method of gravity- 
flow. By means of syphons he takes the v^ater down 
one side of a valley and up the further slope to a 
point where it finds its own level, and continues its 
onward course in a gentle fall towards its destination. 
These long pipe lines are not hermetically sealed from 
end to end like the service pipes of a town, for in the 
case of a large total drop between the source and 
point of final delivery there would be an excessive 
pressure in the syphons at the valley bottoms, the 
pressure increasing in proportion to the difference in 
height above sea-level between the inflow and the 
lowest portion of the pipe syphon. The engineer, 
therefore, after determining the '* hydraulic gradient," 
or rate of fall, — in the Thirlmere aqueduct 20 inches 
per mile — maps out the course of the pipe line in 
such a manner as to ensure a certain amount of fall 
between the ends of the syphons, and by placing the 
upper end of each important syphon on the hydraulic 
gradient, makes it hydrostatically independent of the 
rest of the pipe line as regards pressure. The greatest 
pressure in the Thirlmere aqueduct occurs at the 
bridge over the river Lune, where the lowest pipes of 
the syphon have to support a hydrostatic stress of 
410 feet, equivalent to 180 lbs. to every square inch, 
and therefore are if inches thick. 

Another important consideration is the tendency of 
any fluid or gaseous body enclosed in a pipe under 

59 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

pressure to straighten out that pipe. This effect may 
be noticed in the flexible tube connecting an air- 
pump with a pneumatic tyre. At each stroke the tube 
gives a ^' kick/' unless it be carefully laid in a straight 
line. The sharper the curves, the greater is their 
resistance to the flow of air, and the more pronounced 
is the resultant kick. 

It therefore becomes very necessary for the engineer 
to lead his pipes in as gentle curves as possible, both 
vertically and horizontally, and at unavoidably sharp 
bends to anchor them securely to a stable foundation. 
At the bridge over the Lune, the straightening pull is 
equivalent to a pressure of 54 tons, which is coun- 
teracted by steel straps passed over the pipes and 
attached to stout anchorages. 

On the steep descents on the sides of valleys any 
slipping of the pipes is prevented by projecting rings 
which engage with a surrounding bed of concrete. 

The Thirlmere aqueduct is made up of three classes 
of construction : tunnel, 14 miles ; '^ cut and cover," 
37 miles ; pipe lines, 45 miles. The tunnels, which 
were bored out by pneumatic drills, are 7 feet wide 
and 7 feet i inch high, and lined where necessary. 
The cut-and-cover lengths have a transverse section 
of the same dimensions, and a lining of concrete 18 
inches thick. Manholes and ventilators are placed 
every quarter of a mile. Both tunnels and cut-and- 
cover lengths will accommodate the ultimate maximum 
flow of fifty million gallons, but in the metal lengths 
the channel is divided into five parallel pipe lines, 

60 



Dams and Aqueducts 

each 40 inches in diameter, and capable of passing 
10,000,000 gallons daily ; with the exception of all 
pipes within nine miles of Thirlmere, where the five- 
fold line is replaced by a three-fold of 48-inch pipes. 
In the first instance only one line was laid ; and the 
others will be added as need arises. 

The aqueduct, after leaving the lake at the southern 
end, plunges into Dunmail tunnel, 5165 yards long. 
Then through a succession of small tunnels to that of 
Nab Scar, 1418 yards long. After traversing Skeghill 
(1243 yards) and Moor Rowe (3040 yards) tunnels, it 
is mostly in pipe and cut-and-cover — the latter a 
trench dug to the gradient level, floored and walled 
and roofed with concrete, and covered in again. 
Before reaching Manchester thirty depressions have 
to be negotiated by syphons of varying depths. As 
it is at these points that the greatest danger from 
bursts occurs we may notice the precautions adopted 
— which precautions apply in part to the Liverpool 
and Birmingham Aqueducts. 

The most likely point for a burst is naturally at the 
lowest portion of a syphon, where the pressure is 
greatest. As a matter of fact, only a very few bursts 
have ever occurred. But the possible damage result- 
ing from a large body of water let loose suddenly on 
a country side is so great that the engineers have 
taken elaborate measures to reduce such effects to a 
minimum. 

At the north or upper end of each of the Thirlmere 
line syphons is a well divided into two main com- 

61 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

partments by a wall. The south compartment is sub- 
divided into three or five divisions, according to the 
number of pipes supplied, and each of these divisions 
is connected with the north compartment by a pipe, 
the open ends of which are flush with the floors. In 
the north compartment are a number of large bell- 
shaped vessels, 56 inches in diameter, each of which 
is suspended, small end downwards, from a lever 18 
feet long, having at one end a fulcrum and at the 
other a float, supported by the water of one of the 
southern divisions. In case of a burst in any one of 
the syphon pipes the water in its particular southern 
division at once sinks rapidly, causing the fall of the 
float ; and the motion, transmitted by the lever to 
the bell-barrel, lowers the latter into the mouth of 
the corresponding pipe, and so cuts off supplies from 
the burst syphon. The rise in the northern compart- 
ment is neutralised by a number of overflow orifices, 
which conduct the surplus water into a specially pre- 
pared channel until such time as the supply is lessened 
at the Thirlmere end. 

The water in the syphon has still to be reckoned 
with ; and as two of the syphons are over nine miles 
long the body of included water is very great. In the 
northern leg of each syphon is therefore stationed 
a valve — or a succession of valves at intervals — 
released automatically by an abnormal rate of flow. 
Briefly described, the valve consists of a metal disc, 
connected in its central line with two trunnions pro- 
truding through the walls of the pipe. At the outer 

62 



^ 



Dams and Aqueducts 

ends of the trunnion are pulleys, actuated by chains, 
to the extremities of which heavy weights are at- 
tached. One of the chains, after passing round its 
pulley, is linked to the end of a piston-rod connected 
with a piston working in a cylinder full of glycerine 
and water. Above the pipe is an air-chamber, bolted 
down to a circular orifice, so that there is an air- 
tight joint between the chamber and the pipe. 
Athwart the chamber and through its walls runs a 
shaft, from the centre of which depends into the 
water-way a lever, carrying at its lower end a metal 
plate 2iJ inches in diameter. At one end of the 
shaft — outside the chamber — is an arm so weighted 
that the pressure of water on the plate is just counter- 
balanced, and the latter maintained in a horizontal 
position. When a burst occurs the plate is pushed 
in the direction of the flow, moves over the lever 
to which it is attached, and communicates the motion 
to the shaft, which releases a second lever that in 
turn releases the trunnion chain-wheels and permits 
the weights to rotate the wheels, and gradually bring 
the internal valve-disc from a horizontal to a vertical 
position, completely closing the water-way. The 
reader has probably noticed the noise of a ''water- 
hammer" resulting from the sudden closing of a 
tap somewhere on the house supply. The running 
water, abruptly checked, expends its impetus on the 
walls of the pipe with a sharp rap that may be heard 
for a considerable distance. The effect of such a 
water-hammer on the great pipe lines would be 

63 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

disastrous ; and it is to ensure the very gradual 
cutting off of the water that the cyHnder mentioned 
above is employed. At the moment when the chain- 
wheels are released a small cock in a pipe leading 
from the cylinder is also opened, and the contents 
slowly escape, permitting the weight attached to the 
chain to pull round the pulley at a uniform speed. 

The danger of a ^' water-hammer " on the southern 
or lower leg of a syphon is not so great, as the direc- 
tion of the rush is the opposite of that of the normal 
flow. So that for an appreciable time after the burst 
the water is almost in a state of rest, from which it 
gradually attains a reverse motion. To check its 
downward flow check-valves are placed — three flaps, 
one above another, opening only in the direction of 
normal flow. On a burst occurring, they at once 
shut against their seats, and remain there until the 
syphon is refilled and the flow resumed. 

The charging of a syphon is not so easy a matter 
as might be imagined. The sudden influx of a full 
column of water might imprison air in the lower 
parts, compress it, and cause it to burst suddenly 
up the lower leg, leaving room for a violent rush of 
water in its track. 

An ingenious provision for the charging has there- 
fore been made. In each of the large plugs in the 
syphon wells is a smaller central one, which is opened 
by means of a lever of U section, supported at a 
short distance from one end on a fulcrum which 
rests on the main lever between plug and float. A 

64 



Dams and Aqueducts 

heavy iron ball, weighing 90 lbs., runs in the channel 
of the short lever. When the central valve is opened 
the southern end of the lever is depressed, and the 
ball remains there until the syphon is full, when 
the float rises, and by raising the main and small 
levers causes the ball to roll along its channel and 
close the central valve. The large plug is now water- 
tight and ready for the next emergency. 

The pipes used in such works are manufactured 
with the greatest care, being cast vertically, socket 
downwards, so that the densest metal may be at the 
spot where there is greatest danger of fracture. Each 
pipe is then tested internally with coal-tar oil to an 
internal pressure of 45 lbs. per square inch in excess 
of the possible maximum exerted by the water, 
weighed, and its date, number, diameter, length, and 
thickness entered in a book ; after which it is heated 
in a stove and dipped in a special anti-corrosive com- 
position. During the laying of the line the position 
of every pipe is registered, together with the name 
of the man who laid it, and the date at which it is 
laid. The joints are made by running in molten 
lead between the socket of one pipe and the spigot 
end of its neighbour — a process that is too familiar 
in most towns to need description. 

The first contract for the work was let in 1885, 
and on October 13, 1894, the first Thirlmere water 
arrived in Manchester, the inhabitants of which town 
are now assured of a splendid supply for many years 
to come. 

65 E 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

From Cumberland we turn our attention to the 
equally hilly district of North Central Wales, where 
are the head waters of the Vyrnwy, a tributary of 
the Severn, The valley through which the river flows 
was once the course of a glacier, that scraped deep 
channels in the rock and piled boulders and stones 
across the glen so as to create a natural dam, behind 
which a lake was formed. After many years this 
lake was filled in with alluvial deposit, which rose 
to a height of 40 to 50 feet above the rocky barrier. 

Who would have thought, fifty years ago, that this 
natural dam would prove of the greatest utility to 
far-off Liverpool, situated on the edge of unlimited 
water and yet casting anxious eyes towards regions 
where there was water fit to drink ? In an interesting 
report on the Liverpool water supply the Corporation 
engineer, Mr. J. Parry, tells us how in 1865 a scarcity 
of water during the summer and autumn produced 
disastrous results. /^The consumption was restricted 
in every way ; trade was impeded, sanitary require- 
ments were neglected, public baths and wash-houses 
were closed, and the death-rate from diseases caused 
and aggravated by a deficiency of water became ab- 
normally high. The Medical Officer of Health for 
the Borough, the late Dr. Trench, in evidence before 
a Committee of the House of Commons, stated that 
hundreds of lives would have been saved during that 
season if there had been an increased supply of 
water." 

As a result, great works were commenced in 1868 at 

66 




•~< 






o 


iJ5 






vO 


fej 




^ 




6 




t^ 




!^ 




d 


VJ 


Q 






,« 


fS 




2 


^ 


& 




o 


e5 






^ 


1 1 




•K^ 


V 






o 


J3 














-« 


c 






'ii 








«* 








«* 

^ 


1 






^ 


o 

U3 






■^ 


1o 






o 


^ 






o 


tij 






t^ 








'U 








.^ 


D 








^ 






^ 


7 






l. 


^ 

^ 






















^ 


rt 






vi^ 


tX) 






^ 


o 






<^ 


8 








o" 






^ 








«^ 


n3 






o 


"o 






»; 


Si 






^ 


^ 






^ 


"o 






^ 


1 






, 


_ 








^ 






-*;: 


o 






,Q 


Xt 






fe 








8 


'u 






o 








-is 


rs 






^ 


o 






^ 






(— 1 




rt 




^ 


^ 


J3 






g 


IS 




•^ 








^ 




1 




O 












o 




^ 




M 




e 




trt 





Dams and Aqueducts 

Rivington, in the Yarrow valley, where there are now 
eight reservoirs of 598 acres surface and a capacity 
of over 4000 million gallons, connected with Liverpool 
by a pipe line 15I miles long, terminating at the 
Prescot Reservoirs. These works cost the Corporation 
I J million pounds. 

But they did not suffice ; and in 1878 Mr. G. F. 
Deacon, M.I.C.E., was instructed to survey the 
Vyrnwy valley and prepare Parliamentary plans, in 
conjunction with Mr. Thomas Hawksley, for the 
creation of a second supply. 

The necessary Act received the royal assent in 1880. 

As no lake existed from which to draw, the engineers 
decided to create one by closing the valley with a 
dam superimposed on the rocky ledge left by glacial 
action. The dam, which rises 85 feet above the river- 
bed, is 1 172 feet long, 161 feet high (maximum), 
127 feet thick at the base (maximum), and contains 
260,000 cubic yards of masonry, weighing 510,000 tons. 
^^ Below the sill of the dam and above the outlet to 
the aqueduct. Lake Vyrnwy contains 12,131 million 
gallons. Its area is 1121 acres. In a single foot of 
depth immediately below the overflow, the lake con- 
tains about 304 million gallons ; 5 feet lower a foot 
of depth contains 292 miUion gallons. . . . The aver- 
age cross-section of this remarkable sheet of water 
does not differ widely from a horizontal base 2000 
feet wide, with a depth of water over it of 70 feet, 
and end slopes 2J to i.'' ^ 

^ Mr. G. F. Deacon. Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil 
Engineers, 

67 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

This lake covers the site of the village of Llanwddn, 
with its forty cottages, church, school, and three 
chapels. By way of compensation, a new village, 
church and churchyard were built below the dam, 
and thither were removed the living and the dead. 

The living have gained rather than lost by the 
move ; new and better houses to live in, a well- 
regulated river, no longer subject to sudden spates, 
flowing past their doors, a fine carriage-way across 
the valley over the dam, and finally the dam itself, a 
noble and imposing structure on which the eye may 
rest with admiration, especially at times when the 
water passing over the top in an unbroken sheet 
700 feet wide, thunders down on to the masonry 
below. 

Except for the stone and sand all the materials 
used in the Vyrnwy dam — such as cement, bricks, 
timber, iron, machinery, plant, coal, &c.- — had to be 
carted over ten miles of hilly country from the nearest 
Cambrian railway station of Llanfyllin. 

The masonry throughout was executed with the 
most scrupulous care, since the sudden breaking loose 
of such a body of water as Lake Vyrnwy into the 
valley of the Severn, with its large towns, would be 
terrible to contemplate. 

A great trench was first dug across the valley down 
to hard, sound rock. Boulders ranging up to hun- 
dreds of tons in weight were met with and removed ; 
all long slopes in the sound rock were cut into steps ; 
and the whole surface was scrupulously cleaned with 

68 



Dams and Aqueducts 

wire brushes and high-pressure water jets, and coated 
with Portland cement mortar. The interior rubble- 
work of the dam consisted mainly of large stones 
2 to lo tons in weight, laid by cranes on to carefully 
levelled beds of cement mortar. As each stone was 
placed, a number of men beat upon its centre with 
wooden mallets until it had settled down well, and 
squeezed up some of the mortar between it and the 
next stones. The interstices were very carefully filled 
and rammed with different-sized tools — blunt-ended 
swords for the narrowest cracks — and the precaution 
taken of only half-filling the vertical spaces between 
the last layer of masonry at the end of each day's 
work. During the nights, Sundays and holidays, 
these half-filled cracks were crammed tight with bags 
to exclude rain, frost, and sunshine. By this means 
the perfect junction of the work was assured. 

The facing stones — cut to rectangular form — were 
bedded in like manner, but the mortar not brought 
to the outer edge. Cracks 6 inches deep from the 
face at the bottom, and 3 inches at the top were 
left and filled in with iron plates until the mortar 
had set. The cracks were then caulked to within an 
inch of the face with special cement, very carefully 
rammed. The result is a face that will suffer a 
minimum of disturbance from the contractions and 
expansions of cold and heat. 

The dam is pierced by two culverts carrying pipes 
for the discharge of the daily 10 million gallons and 
the monthly 160 million gallons of compensation water. 

69 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

This discharge has entailed an expenditure of 
;^30o,ooo, and except in the Vyrnwy stream itself-— 
where its importance is small — its effect is trifling, 
and a concession rather to official pressure than to 
public needs. 

About three quarters of a mile from the south-east 
end of the lake there rises from the water an orna- 
mental tower connected with the public road — con- 
structed by the Corporation at considerable expense 
along the north-east side of the lake— by four masonry 
arches. This tower is 170 feet high, and stands out 
60 feet above top-water level. 

On the outside of the tower are two inlet valves, 
each made up of six 9-foot tubes superimposed verti- 
cally on one another, end to end. By means of 
internal guides and a system of catches, it is possible 
to separate any number of these pipes from the pipes 
below, so as to permit the inflow of the water at any 
one of six different levels. The lowest joint is con- 
nected by a U-shaped bend with a similar series of 
tubes, working on the same principle, in the interior 
of the tower. This enables the man in charge to draw 
water from the surface, where it is purest, and intro- 
duce it into the tower in a state of approximate 
quiescence. The floor of the interior is pierced by 
three vertical bell -mouths communicating with as 
many 46-inch pipes leading to the aqueduct, each 
of which can be closed by a throttle-valve. Over the 
bell-mouths are cylindrical strainers, 9 feet in diameter 
and 25 feet high, of very fine copper gauze. As soon 

70 



Dams and Aqueducts 

as a strainer shows signs of fouling it is raised by 
hydraulic pressure, and cleansed by a washing turbine 
that removes all clogging matter from the gauze in 
a few minutes. 

A concrete culvert, 730 yards long, leads the strained 
water to a tunnel piercing the hill at the south-east 
side of the lake. This tunnel, 7 feet in diameter and 
2J miles long, terminates in an open well, in which 
the inlets to the three pipe Hnes are fixed. Each line 
is, or will be, of such capacity as to pass 14,000,000 
gallons daily. 

The total length of the aqueduct, in which there is 
very little tunnelling, is 67 miles. It falls into seven 
main portions, each of which terminates towards 
Manchester in a ''balancing reservoir'' on the 
hydraulic gradient. At Norton, where the natural 
level is no feet below the gradient line, a fine red 
sandstone tower of that height was built, carrying in 
the top an enormous bowl 80 feet in diameter and 31 
feet deep at the centre. The bowl is supported, at the 
circumference only, by steel rollers, which allow for 
expansive movements. Its capacity of 650,000 gallons 
renders it the largest bowl in the world. 

At the river Weaver the aqueduct sinks into a 
channel dredged for it in the river-bed, and is held 
down by flanges engaging with stout piles. 

Between Norton and the Prescot Reservoirs the 
engineers had their hardest work to do. For, in 
addition to crossing four railways, the aqueduct 
encounters four canals and the river Mersey. The 

71 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Manchester Ship Canal length was carried out during 
the construction of the canal by cut-and-cover work, 
a culvert 305 feet long being built with terminal shafts 
at each end of ample section for three lines of 36-inch 
steel pipes. 

Scarcely has the aqueduct risen on the north side 
of the canal when it descends again for a long plunge 
under the Mersey. " In point of difficulty, this work 
proved to be the most important upon the whole 
aqueduct. It was the first tunnel ever constructed by 
means of a shield under a tidal or other river through 
entirely loose materials. A romantic and instructive 
account might well be written of the battles with the 
elements, of the repeated failures and successes, and 
of the hairbreadth escapes, with ultimate pronounced 
success, which attended this subterranean and sub- 
aqueous work.'' ^ 

The tunnel was only 900 feet long and but 9 feet in 
internal diameter, yet its construction occupied forty- 
seven months, baffled two contractors, and had to be 
completed by the Corporation engineer, Mr. G. F. 
Deacon. 

The Company had contemplated laying the pipes in 
the Mersey bed in the same way as had been done at 
the Weaver, but the Parliamentary Committee ordered 
a tunnel under the river. Owing to the loose and 
porous nature of the Mersey bed the engineers at first 
proposed a tunnel that should be 104 feet below the 

^ Mr. G. F. Deacon. Proceedings of Inst. C.E, 

72 



Dams and Aqueducts 

surface on the Cheshire, and 174 feet below on the 
Lancashire side. But the estimated cost was so heavy 
that they decided to drive a horizontal tunnel 50 feet 
below high-water mark. The first contractors in 
twenty months had sunk the shafts and driven the 
tunnel for 57 feet. They then ceased work. The 
second contractors drove and lined 182 feet from the 
Lancashire shaft, and then also relinquished the task. 
The great obstacle was the difficulty in keeping water 
off the working face. In sinking a vertical shaft 
under air pressure it is easy to prevent the water 
from passing under the edge of the shield, which is 
horizontal, and therefore acted upon by an external 
head of water at all points equally. But in the case 
of a tunnel, the shield is vertical, and the head increases 
towards the bottom of the face. So that, where a 
porous water-logged stratum is encountered, if the 
pressure inside the shield suffices to keep out the 
water from the lower portion of the face, it may over- 
come the water pressure of the upper portion and 
force the air out and upwards. If, on the other hand, 
the upper portion only is considered, the pressure 
may not be great enough to exclude leakage into the 
lower part of the face. Matters were further com- 
plicated in the Mersey aqueduct tunnel by the head 
of water in the stratum varying with the tides. 

The shield employed by the second contractors was 
too light for the work, and the cutting-edge collapsed 
for one-fourth of its circumference. When Mr. 
Deacon took over the responsibility, he had first to 

73 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

repair the shield, a matter of great difficulty. But 
when the process was completed, operations pro- 
gressed at a satisfactory rate, except during twelve 
days consumed in further repairs. At the end of 
four and a half months the tunnel was completed, the 
lining of cast-iron segments being placed in position 
behind the shield as the latter advanced. 

The aqueduct is furnished with stop-valves every 2| 
miles, and with ii automatic valves, similar to those 
of the Thirlmere aqueduct, to shut in case of a burst. 

In 1893 a telephone system was installed between 
Prescot and Vyrnwy, a double line for speaking, and a 
number of short lines from the automatic valves to 
the nearest signal station, so that an alarm will be 
given immediately after the occurrence of an accident. 

On November 28, 1898, the outlet valves of the 
Vyrnwy Dam were closed, except those for compensa- 
tion water, and by November 25 of the following year 
a new lake had been formed to the overflow level. 

The quantity of water now delivered through the 
pipes (single line) from Oswestry to Prescot Reservoir 
is 15I million gallons a day. 

The Birmingham Scheme 

The third aqueduct that we shall consider in some 
detail is one which in a few years will connect Bir- 
mingham with the head-waters of the Wye in two 
valleys of Radnorshire. 

As at Manchester and Liverpool, the rapid increase 
of population has compelled the authorities to derive 

74 



Dams and Aqueducts 

an adequate water supply from a district favoured 
with a heavy and uncontaminated rainfall. 

Mr. James Mansergh, called into consultation by 
the Corporation, laid his hand upon the little rivers 
Elan and Claerwen in distant Wales as the source 
from which the great hardware town should draw a 
copious supply. 

The scheme for impounding these rivers in the 
same manner as the Vyrnwy was of course a very 
expensive one, but the common sense of the Birming- 
ham ratepayers determined that the outlay must be 
faced, with the result that a Bill introduced by Mr. 
Chamberlain in 1892 received the prompt sanction of 
Parliament, granting the Corporation borrowing 
powers to the extent of ;^6,6oo,ooo. 

At a spot half a mile below the junction of the 
valleys of the Elan and Claerwen, is reared a masonry 
dam 120 feet high and 600 feet long, which will pen 
in a serpentine reservoir extending a mile up the 
Claerwen and about two miles up the Elan valley. 
This reservoir is but one of six that will be eventually 
formed by as many dams, rising like a gigantic water 
ladder up the valleys. The total storage will be 
18,000 million gallons, ensuring a maximum daily 
supply to Birmingham of 77 millions, in addition to 
27 millions of compensation water to the Wye. 

At present four dams are in progress ; the lowest, 
the Caban Coch, referred to above ; the next, the 
Careg Dhu, a submerged dam only a few feet high ; 
the third, the Pen-y-Gareg, 128 feet high and 525 

75 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

long ; the fourth, the Craig Goch, 120 feet high and 
625 long. The first will impound 8000 million gallons, 
Pen-y-Gareg 1320 millions, the Craig Goch 2000 
millions ; the surface of each reservoir at highest level 
reaching to the foot of the dam further up the Elan 
valley. When a still larger quantity is needed two 
other dams will be built across the Claerwen, and 
their reservoirs connected with the main Caban Coch 
by a tunnel cut through the intervening hill. 

When the dams are completed there will be seen a 
succession of beautiful lakes nestling between slopes 
well clad with woodland down to the water's edge. 

The masonry is of the usual solid description pre- 
vailing in such works, the greatest breadth at the founda- 
tion being about equal to that of the maximum height. 

For the accommodation of the workmen a regular 
village has been laid out on one side of the Elan, with 
streets of houses, a school, recreation rooms, a Cor- 
poration public-house, where limited quantities of 
liquor are sold at certain hours, and well-ordered 
hospitals. A bridge over the river is the only approach, 
and every one who would enter the village to seek 
employment is examined as to his physical condition, 
health, and capacities, before he is allowed to cross. 
A sort of octroi is established at the bridge end to keep 
out contraband articles, among which liquor is chief. 
Thanks to these arrangements the health and well- 
being of the community has been maintained at a high 
level, and the precedent is one which may with great 
advantage be followed. 

76 



Dams and Aqueducts 

The intake to the aqueduct is immediately above 
the Careg Dhu, the submerged dam, surmounted by 
a lofty aqueduct. The top water of the Caban Reser- 
voir being 822 feet above sea level, and the crest of 
the submerged dam 780 feet, a slice of water 42 feet 
thick can be withdrawn before the levels on the two 
sides of the dam begin to differ. This slice will con- 
tain sufficient water for the daily compensation and 
a 27-million-gallon daily Birmingham supply for 100 
days, with the yield of the watershed ; and, when it 
has been withdrawn, 100 days more compensation 
water will still remain in the part of the main reservoir 
below the submerged dam, while the water im- 
pounded by the latter and the two upper dams will 
still be available for the aqueduct. 

This is 74 miles long, from the Elan to the Frankley 
Reservoirs, between which points there will be a fall of 
170 feet, or an average hydraulic gradient of i in 4000. 
About one half will be tunnel and culvert work, the 
balance six lines of 42-inch iron and steel pipes for 
the syphons (the longest 17 miles), in which the 
greatest pressure will be about 250 lbs. to the square 
inch. The water-way in the tunnels and culverts is 
8 feet 6 inches in breadth and height. The longest 
tunnels are 4^, 2!, and i J miles in length. Wherever a 
river is encountered the pipes will cross on specially 
built bridges. 

So in a year or two water will flow copiously from 
the wide glen in which the river rushes busily over its 
rocky bed on the way to the broad Severn. Cwn 

77 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Elan, at one time the residence of the poet Shelley, 
will share the fate of the village at Vyrnwy ; and over 
the Caban Coch dam will roar, in flood-time, ''the 
finest waterfall in the kingdom," to use the words of 
Mr. Mansergh, the engineer of the works. 

Other Dams and Aqueducts 

So numerous are these that reference cannot be 
made to all. But a few are specially worthy of men- 
tion. The Periyar Dam in Travancore, India, pens 
the river of that name into a lake of nearly 12 square 
miles area ; and a tunnel through a hill on one side con- 
nects this reservoir with the Valgai River, which carries 
it down to the irrigation of Madura, a district that had 
for time immemorial suffered from severe droughts. 

Two wooden-stave pipe lines join Denver City, 
Colorado, with a river 20 miles away in the Rocky 
Mountains, The lines are 30 and 34 inches in 
diameter, and pass 8,400,000 and 16,000,000 gallons 
daily. Six miles of wooden pipes, mostly 6 feet in 
diameter, supply Ogden, near Salt Lake City, with 
water from a storage reservoir containing 15,000 
million gallons. These wooden pipes are said to be 
as durable as those of cast iron, provided that they 
are always full of water. 

New York is fed by three aqueducts, the Old 
Croton, the New Croton, and the Bronx River ; dis- 
charging respectively 95, 302, and 28 million gallons 
daily. The first is 41 miles long ; the second 33J 
miles long, no less than 29} miles of which is in 
tunnel of i2j-foot diameter. As the new aqueduct 

78 



Dams and Aqueducts 

approaches New York it makes a dive of 500 feet to 
pass the Harlem River. Its cost was ;^4,ooo,ooo. 

Its feeder is a huge reservoir held up by the New 
Croton Dam — probably the finest extant example of 
such work — which has a maximum height of 290 feet, 
and a thickness at the base of over 200 feet. 

There is probably no branch of engineering in 
which faulty design and workmanship can produce 
more disastrous results than that of dam-making. 
The sudden release of millions of cubic yards of water 
into a confined valley is attended with consequences 
that are truly awful. 

In February 1852 the failure of a dam in Yorkshire 
swept away the town of Holmfirth. In 1895 the 
bursting of the Bouzey Dam, near J^pinal, France, 
caused terrible loss of life. 

But the most appalling instance of all is the memor- 
able Johnstown disaster of 1889, which will probably 
have left a permanent mark on the reader's mind, even 
in these days of quick-crowding events. 

By the courtesy of the proprietors of the Wide 
World Magazine the writer is permitted to append 
the following account of this catastrophe : — 

'' Johnstown is the county seat of Cambria County, 
Pennsylvania, and on the day of the disaster. May 31, 
1889, the Conemaugh Valley, in which it is situated, 
had a population of about 30,000, . . . The town lies 
in a basin of the mountains, and is girt about by 
streams. On one side flows the Conemaugh River, 
on the other Stony Creek. The dam at the reservoir 

79 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was 
improperly constructed. Originally built to create a 
reservoir for a feeder to the Pennsylvania Canal, it 
was abandoned when the canal became useless, and 
was then taken over by the club. The relief gates 
were permanently stopped up, and gravel, clay, and 
mud used to raise the embankment to a height far 
above that of the original structure. 

'' Observant men, some of them practical engineers, 
predicted a calamity, but no one could be induced to 
interfere. It is known that before the bursting of the 
dam those in charge of the reservoir foresaw the 
impending calamity, and tried to open a sluice-way on 
one side and so lessen the pressure. In spite of their 
efforts, however, the rising water reached the top of the 
dam, and on Friday afternoon, shortly after three o'clock, 
the overflow began, causing a break 300 feet wide. 
It took exactly one hour to empty the vast reservoir. 

'' Hardly had the warning rider reached Johnstown 
bridge before the great black wave of water, from 
20 feet to 40 feet high, which at ever-increasing speed 
had rolled down the 14 miles from the reservoir, 
flung itself upon the doomed community, and almost 
swept it out of existence. Then followed a climax 
of appalling ruin — a scene which in its agony of death 
and destruction has never had its parallel in this 
Republic. With one great swoop over 3000 houses 
of brick and wood — stores, hotels, dwellings, factories 
— all were sent crashing and tumbling down the 
roaring torrent. 

80 



Dams and Aqueducts 

^'The seething mass, speckled with human beings 
praying for life, was hurled against the great stone 
arches of the bridge. Above the roar of the flood, 
the crash of falling timber, and the swirl of the rushing 
water, were heard the cries of the dying, the wails 
of the mangled, and the agonised cries for help from 
strong men, fainting women, and helpless children. 
The force of the flood was such that it ground the 
wreckage into a compact mass, containing houses and 
parts of houses, furniture, waggons, cattle, the dead 
and dying — in short, a mass so dense that upon it 
rested, without sinking, the enormous weight of a 
full-sized locomotive. And yet, hardly had the wreck- 
age begun to accumulate before fire broke out beneath 
the arches of the bridge, and stifling smoke and 
scorching flames rose above the scene of disaster and 
added terror upon terror. 

^^The total damage done by the rain-storm during 
the closing week of May was estimated at 50,000,000 
dollars, the largest loss caused by any single calamity 
in the United States, excepting the Chicago fire. Up 
to the present 3000 bodies have been buried, and a 
fair estimate of the dead in the Conemaugh Valley is 
from 7000 to 10,000.'' 

Thus Nature sometimes takes her revenge upon 
mankind for the fetters placed on her by the art of 
the engineer. 

Note. — For the information contained in this chapter the author 
is much indebted to Mr. G. F. Deacon, M.I.C.E., and Mr. J. Perry 
Water Engineer of the Liverpool Corporation. 

81 F 



CHAPTER IV 

THE FORTH BRIDGE 

A GLANCE at the map of Scotland serves to show 
that that country is nearly cut in half, towards its 
southern end, by the Firths of Clyde and Forth 
running inland from the west and east respectively. 
They find their counterparts in the Severn and 
Thames estuaries, which, in a similar fashion, inter- 
rupt direct natural communication between the 
southern and midland portions of England. The 
interruption is, however, more serious in the Forth 
than in the Thames, inasmuch as the intervening 
water space is broader, and because South Fife and 
the Lothians are proportionately'more important than 
Kent and Essex. In the case of the Thames, too, the 
estuary has narrowed into a river long before large 
towns are reached, and the crossing, even in its tidal 
parts, is a matter of small danger or difficulty. 

Until recent years a traveller in the east of Scot- 
land, when desiring to pass from Edinburgh to the 
counties of Fife and Perth, had to choose between 
an inconvenient and sometimes stormy passage of the 
Forth in a steamer at Queensferry, and making a long 
detour by rail round by Stirling. The loss of time 
entailed in either case was a serious handicap to traffic 

82 




From photos lent hy'\ 



[Sir Bciijattiin Baker. 



The Forth Bridge— the Largest Bridge in the World. 

The upper view illustrates the method of construction— building out from both sides 
of the central towers simultaneously to maintain the balance of the whole. In the 
lower view is seen the completed structure, with its two main spans of 1,710 feet. 

[To face p. 82. 



The Forth Bridge 

between the counties north and south of the Forth ; 
and at length it became so intolerable that schemes 
were propounded for connecting the banks of the 
Forth by a permanent means of inter-communication. 
As long ago as 1805 a proposal was brought forward 
to construct a double tunnel under the bed of the 
Forth ; but matters got no further than the issue of a 
prospectus and pamphlet setting out the advantages 
of such a tunnel. Thirteen years later, one James 
Anderson, an engineer whose ideas and theories were 
on too large a scale for the engineering science of the 
time, suggested the erection of a bridge at Queens- 
ferry; the bridge to contain main spans of 1500 to 
2000 feet, be 33 feet wide, and to cost the very modest 
sum of ;^205,ooo ! The extant designs of the bridge 
make it clear that it was as well for any would-be 
shareholders that the scheme never passed beyond 
the paper stage. 

When, however, in i860, that greatest originator of 
vast engineering undertakings — the Railway — moved 
in the matter, things began to wear a more feasible 
aspect. The North British Railway planned a bridge 
about six miles north-west of South Queensferry, of 
500-foot spans. But the project was dropped, to be 
revived in 1873, when the Forth Bridge Company 
was formed to carry out the designs of Sir Thomas 
Bouch for a suspension bridge with two large spans 
of 1600 feet each. The capital was actually sub- 
scribed, and an Act authorising the construction 
passed through Parliament. A commencement had 

83 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

been made on the island of Inchgarvie in the founda- 
tion of one of the great main piers, 550 feet high, 
when work was suddenly stopped by the terrible 
disaster of the Tay Bridge in December 1879. Sir 
Thomas Bouch, as the engineer of that ill-fated 
structure, lost the confidence of the company and the 
public. 

His designs were, therefore, laid aside, and investi- 
gations made into alternative methods of crossing the 
Forth. The committee of experts appointed to draw 
up a report abandoned, after due consideration, all 
ideas of driving a tunnel under the estuary, since the 
excavation necessary for the approaches on both sides 
would involve a very great outlay, and decided in 
favour of a bridge. In 1881 Messrs. Fowler and 
Baker (since honoured with a baronetcy and knight- 
hood respectively) submitted plans for a cantilever 
bridge, of an altogether unprecedented size, to be 
constructed between North and South Queensferry. 

Before going further into an account of this 
mammoth structure, it will be well to explain the 
principle of the cantilever. 

An engineer, let us suppose, is called upon to 
bridge a gap of several hundred feet. How he will 
proceed to accomplish his task depends chiefly on the 
natural conditions of the locality where the bridge 
has to be made. If, for instance, there is dry land or 
shallow water on a hard bed below the gap, and the 
perpendicular height is not excessive, he may elect to 
build steel or brick piers a moderate distance apart, 

84 



The Forth Bridge 



and to lift on to the top of these girders of the truss 
type, each completed before being moved, and when 
placed in position independent of its neighbours, its 
weight being borne at either end by a pier. 

But when conditions decree that the points of 
supports must be few and far apart, the difficulties of 
our engineer are much increased. In the case of the 
Britannia Bridge, Stephenson built huge tubular 
girders of 460 feet length, and hoisted them into 
position by means of hydraulic presses ; but the 
difficulties to be overcome were enormous, and such 
a proceeding would be practically impossible with 
spans of 500 to 1000 feet. When such are required, 
the engineer resorts either to the suspension type of 
bridge (to be seen at Clifton, Hammersmith, Niagara, 
Brooklyn), or builds out from his supports on both 
sides simultaneously in such a manner that the 
structure as it proceeds is in a state of balance. The 
balanced arms may be rigidly joined to neighbouring 
arms in the middle of the span, and the connections 
over the piers severed so as to resolve the structure 
into a series of independent girders of the type first 
mentioned ; or a gap may be left, and this be bridged 
over by an intermediate girder resting at each end on 
the arms. In this case the piers, or points of support, 
are the centres of pairs of cantilevers^ as the balanced 
arms are named. 

To make this quite plain, let us suppose two chairs 
to represent bases of two piers of a cantilever bridge. 

Men seated on the chairs are the towers. They 

85 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

raise their arms simultaneously, maintaining their 
vertical balance. A very small pressure would de- 
press their hands, so they are provided with sticks, 
which they grasp firmly at the upper end and rest 
against the seat of the chairs. A weight now hung 
from their hands is borne by the power of the sticks 
to resist compression, and the strength of the arms to 
resist extension. 

Our men are tw^o pairs of cantilevers. Between 
them is, let us say, an interval of two feet. This is 
bridged by a board of proper length resting on the 
upper extremities of the two inner sticks. If a third 
man sits on this ''suspended girder,'' his weight 
causes his companions to lose their balance and 
fall inwards. So a couple of heavy weights are 
placed on the floor, immediately under the outer 
hands, and straps are passed from the anchorages 
over the hands. 

The cantilevers can now withstand the weight on 
the central girder without losing their equilibrium. 
This explanation ^ made, we will return to the plans 
for the Forth Bridge. 

On the north shore of the Forth, at North Queens- 
ferry, a somewhat triangular-shaped promontory pro- 
jects southwards for a mile and a quarter into the water. 
At a distance of almost exactly a third of a mile south 
of the outermost point lies the small island of Inch- 
garvie, crowned by an ancient castle. Between Fife 

^ Adapted from an illustration given by Sir B. Baker in a lecture at the 
Royal Institution. 

86 



The Forth Bridere 



and Inchgarvie runs the main or north channel of 
the Forth, over 200 feet deep, and more generally 
used by shipping than the south channel, equally 
deep and wide, between Inchgarvie and the southern 
shore. There is on the south side of the south chan- 
nel an expanse of shallow water 2000 feet wide. 

The engineers erected three huge steel towers, each 
resting on four massive piers, on the extremity of the 
North Queensferry promontory, the western end of 
Inchgarvie, and in the shallow water at the south edge 
of the south channel. Each tower is 343 feet high from 
the piers to the summit of the steelwork, and a man 
standing on the latter would be 361 feet above high- 
water level. From these huge supports six cantilevers 
are built out, each 680 feet long. Those at the north 
and south ends rest on viaducts leading from the 
higher ground at a level of 157 feet above high water 
— the level of the permanent way. The other two 
pairs terminate while yet 350 feet apart, and these 
intervals are bridged by a couple of girders resting 
on the cantilever ends. 

The bridge thus contains two enormous spans of 
17 10 feet each between the towers ; the vastness of 
which will perhaps be better comprehended if we 
suppose one tower to be situated in the Strand op- 
posite Chancery Lane, a second in the same thorough- 
fare at the Waterloo Bridge crossing, and the third 
on the Trafalgar Square side of St. Martin's Church. 
In height the towers would rival that of St. Paul's 
Cathedral. 

87 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

On the north shore the bridge is approached by a 
viaduct 289 feet 11 inches long, and on the south by 
one of 1978 feet. The total length of the structure, 
including the length of the towers — 145, 260, and 145 
feet respectively — is 8295 feet 9I inches. 

The two main spans, crossing the two channels, 
permit the passage at all states of the tide of vessels 
whose topmasts are not more than 150 feet above 
high-water level, for a distance of 250 feet north and 
south of the central line of the spans. 

The three central towers — to be referred to as 
the Fife, Inchgarvie, and South Queensferry — each 
rest on four solid piers of masonry built up from a 
firm foundation. Viewed sideways the four vertical 
columns composing a tower are parallel, but when 
seen from the railway track a decided taper is notice- 
able. The '' batter " of i in 7I, which contracts the 
towers from 120 feet at bottom to 33 feet at top, is 
maintained throughout the structure to the cantilever 
ends, where the height has shrunk from 330 to 34 
feet, and the width from 120 to 32 feet at the 
bottom. 

Inchgarvie tower is longer than the other two — 
260 feet as against 145 — for reasons that will be 
seen immediately. The sides of the towers are 
strengthened by huge tubular bracings which run 
from the foot of one column to the top of its 
neighbour ; and all four columns are connected 
together horizontally, both top and bottom, by 
powerful ties. In addition to these are a number 

88 



The Forth Bridge 



of smaller bracings running in all directions, giving 
the whole structure wonderful stability. 

Nature had favoured the engineers by placing 
Inchgarvie in mid channel, and providing firm matter 
on which to erect the piers. But, on the other hand, 
the Forth is exposed to gales, which on several days 
of the year blow with such fury as to prevent the 
passage of even paddle-steamers. The enormous 
pressure of a wind blowing upwards of 20 lbs. to 
the square foot on a structure of the size of the 
Forth Bridge had to be reckoned with. The taper- 
ing shape of the cantilevers towards their extremities 
had the effect of offering least surface to the wind 
where it had most leverage to twist the cantilevers 
about their supports ; and the straddling of the 
columns further minimised danger from air pressure. 
But Messrs. Fowler & Baker thought it best to make 
a slight concession to the elements, by a contrivance 
that also provided for longitudinal expansion and 
contraction of the steelwork under varying tempera- 
tures. 

Accordingly, one of the four columns in each tower 
was fixed rigidly to its pier. But the other three 
carried at their lower extremities bedplates moving 
over corresponding bedplates attached to the piers. 
Strong bolts passing up through slots in the upper 
plates allowed the latter to move slightly horizontally, 
some in a circular path round the fixed pier, and all 
in the direction of the centre line of the bridge. The 
two extreme cantilevers were so fixed at the viaduct 

89 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

ends as to prevent side-play, but permit longitudinal 
expansion. 

The Inchgarvie tower differs from the other two 
in having neither its north nor its south cantilever 
fixed, and both can therefore exert a twisting strain 
on the tower. Great care was necessary to make 
due provision for such movements in the attachment 
of the suspended girders in the middle of the two 
main spans. They are hung in such a manner from 
the cantilevers that longitudinal expansion is possible 
in both girders at their Inchgarvie ends through the 
medium of sliding blocks; while rocking-posts, or 
pivots, are provided at both ends to enable them to 
adapt themselves to any lateral sway of the cantilevers. 

Inchgarvie tower, on account of its ''splendid 
isolation," is also at a disadvantage with regard to 
" live," or train, loads. If two heavily-laden trains 
pass one another at the end of a cantilever they exert 
a great pull on the central tower, tending to lift it 
from its further piers. In the case of the Fife and 
Queensferry towers such a loss of balance is ob- 
viated by terminating the landward cantilevers in 
huge boxes, each containing looo tons of iron, and 
resting on the end viaduct piers. Such a provision 
was impossible for Inchgarvie, so the engineers in- 
creased its length by 115 feet, to give the columns 
further from the live weight a greater counteracting 
leverage. 

It is interesting to notice as an example of the 
thoroughness with which all the work on the Forth 

90 



The Forth Bridge 



Bridge was carried out that, as a preliminary opera- 
tion, three wind gauges were erected in the summer 
of 1882 on the top of the old castle on Inchgarvie, 
and daily records taken. Two of these were fixed 
to face east and west, from which directions the wind 
would strike the bridge almost at right angles to its 
longitudinal axis. The third revolved, to meet winds 
blowing from all quarters. The largest wind-board, 
15 by 20 feet, or 300 square feet in area, had cut in 
it two circular openings of i| square feet area, the 
one at the exact centre and the other in the right 
hand top corner, each containing circular plates regis- 
tering pressure independently of the rest of the board. 
The fact that on March 31, 1886, the upper opening 
recorded only 22 lbs. per square foot, while the 
centre pressure rose as high as 28| lbs., seems to 
show that great wind pressures are very unevenly 
distributed over a large surface. This is confirmed 
by the records of two additional revolving gauges 
set up on the central towers, where simultaneous 
pressures varied as much as 10 and 12 lbs. between 
the different piers. 

The first thing to be done in the actual work of 
construction was to accurately fix the positions of 
the main circular piers. Direct measurements with 
tape and chain being impossible, the surveyors had 
recourse to triangulation. A base line, 4000 feet long, 
was laid on the south shore ; an observatory built ; 
three points taken on the centre line of the bridge ; 
and twenty other stations laid down as required. 

91 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Careful trigonometrical calculations were made ; but, 
in order that there should be a minimum of error 
with regard to the distances apart of the three prin- 
cipal stations on the centre line, the measurement 
of the north span of 1700 feet from the centre of the 
north circular pier on Inchgarvie to the south circular 
piers on Fife was checked in the following manner, 
as described by Mr. Westhofen in his account of 
the Forth Bridge :— 1 

'' In a straight portion of the North British Railway 
a distance of 1700 feet had been carefully measured 
and marked and transferred to high posts at the side 
of the cutting. Upon these posts notched knife-edges 
were placed at the two extremities. A fine steel wire, 
about -^ of an inch in thickness, was laid along the 
span and drawn over the knife edges, with a certain 
amount of stress put upon it, previously agreed upon. 
Thus drawn up, the wire left a certain amount of 
sag in the centre, which was carefully measured by 
level and noted. Two narrow copper tags were then 
soldered on to mark the end points. The wire was 
then coiled up and kept ready for use. The tem- 
perature was noted. On the two shores, immediately 
under the piers which marked the stations, places had 
been prepared for levels, by means of which the 
amount of sag in the wire could be jBxed. On a 
calm, cloudy day, with the temperature about the 
same, the wire was taken across the north channel 

1 To which account the author is greatly indebted for his information. 

92 



The Forth Bridge 



and laid down upon the prepared knife-edges on the 
piers, and with the same amount of sag allowed, the 
two copper tags soldered on should have coincided 
with the notches in the knife-edges, provided the 
distance was correct/' 

The results showed a discrepancy ; but, after the 
main spans were completed and measurements taken 
along the girder, the difference was reduced to but 
I inch in the north span and 6 inches in the south. 

The amount of preparatory work to be done before 
building operations got into full swing was on a scale 
proportionate to that of the bridge itself. On the 
south shore the high ground was cut into terraces, 
and on these were erected a shop for fitting the 
tubular parts of the bridge ; another for the lattice- 
work; a drill road; a carpenters' shop; a pattern shed; 
and a drawing-loft, 200 feet by 60, in which, on a 
blackened floor, full-sized drawings and templates of 
various parts of the superstructure were made. By 
the edge of the water a sawmill was established. 
Houses for accommodating a small army of workmen 
had also to be built, and a water-supply provided. 
Special services of trains and steamers were organised. 
An efficient system of handling, storing, and trans- 
porting materials for 140,000 cubic yards of masonry 
and 55,000 tons of steel, besides an equal weight of 
temporary appliances was devised. A cable for tele- 
phonic communication between the various shops and 
offices at working centres crossed the bed of the 
Forth. And we may close a very incomplete list by 

93 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

naming the construction of a jetty 50 feet wide and 
2100 feet long, extending from the South Queensferry 
shore to the piers of the Queensferry tower. This 
jetty was a considerable piece of engineering in itself. 
It carried lines of rails for conveying stores and 
steelwork to the Queensferry piers, or to barges 
plying between it and Inchgarvie and Fife. 

Ten out of the twelve circular piers, carrying the 
three towers, were constructed by means of caissons 
or coffer-dams. These may be described as contriv- ' 
ances for laying dry a space below water-level, or 
preventing a free flow of water over it. In soft 
ground a coffer-dam is formed by driving down two 
circles of long contiguous piles, leaving between the 
circles a space of a few feet, which is filled in with 
water-tight clay-puddle. The dam thus formed is pro- 
vided with sluice gates to let in the water when re- 
quired. In some cases the water is excluded until 
half-tide, when the rising pressure may make it expe- 
dient to admit water, so as to equalise the pressure on 
both sides of the dam. When the dam is strong enough 
to resist high-water pressure, it is called a whole-tide 
dam, and the space inside can be worked upon con- 
tinuously. 

On rock, recourse is had to steel-sided caissons, the 
sides being cut to fit the contour of the rock on which 
they rest, and their bottom edges made water-tight by 
means to be presently described. 

In deep water, where outside pressure becomes 
very severe, an ingenious structure called a pneumatic 

94 



The Forth Bridge 



caisson is used. This consists of an upright circular 
iron cyhnder, resembling a gasometer in outline, built 
of stout plates closely riveted together. Six or seven 
feet from the bottom a watertight metal diaphragm, 
or floor, shuts out the lower part of the caisson from 
the upper air, and so gives it, when the whole is sunk, 
the properties of an ordinary diving-bell. 

Leaving for a moment a further description of the 
caissons, let us turn our attention to the following 
table, showing the depth of the deepest points of the 
twelve piers of the Forth Bridge towers below high 
water : — 



Fife. . . 


N. W., 7 ft. below high water. 


» 


N.E., 7 „ „ 


JJ 


S.W., 25 „ „ 


J> 


^•■^•5 37 )) JJ JJ 


Inchgarvie 


N.W., 23 „ „ „ 


>? 


N.E., 26 „ „ 


jj 


S.W., 72 ft. I in. below high water 


J5 


S.E., 63 „ 9 „ „ „ 


Queensferry 


N.W., 85 „ below high water. 


i9 


N.E., 89 „ „ 


)J 


S.W., 71 „ „ 


» 


S.E., 73 „ „ „ 



As each of the piers rises 18 feet above high water, 
the total height of the structure at the north-east of 
Queensferry tower is 330 + 89+18 = 437 feet ! 

No dams were required for the Fife north piers. 
The Fife south piers were built inside steel and 
wooden pile coffer-dams. In the case of the Inch- 
garvie north piers, stagings were erected over the 

95 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

sites of the piers and soundings taken at intervals of 
6 inches round the circumference of a 6o-foot circle. 
An iron belt 3 feet deep and 60 feet in diameter was 
then constructed, and to this were attached vertical 
steel plates of a length corresponding with the depth 
of water immediately beneath. As soon as the whole 
had been completed, the shell was lowered into place, 
the uppermost part resting in a groove cut in the 
higher levels of the rock. Rows of concrete bags 
were then placed outside, and clay rammed between 
them and the plates until tight joints permitted the 
pumping out of water at half tide, an operation en- 
tailing the removal of 590,000 gallons in less than an 
hour's time. 

From a reader's point of view the remaining six 
caissons — the southern Inchgarvie and all four 
Queensferry — working on the pneumatic principle, 
will be of especial interest, and as such merit a more 
detailed description. 

The pneumatic caissons, 70 feet in diameter at the 
bottom, and of different heights, were erected on 
the South Queensferry shore ; and when complete 
were loaded with concrete and tools, and launched, 
to be towed to their final resting-places. These last 
had already been carefully surveyed by means of a 
circular raft of planking and timber balks, 70 feet 
across, having a central upright staff, and a carriage 
running on a circular rail laid a foot from the outer 
edge. Attached to the carriage was a drum of steel 
wire, raising and lowering a 60 lb. weight for taking 

96 



The Forth Bridge 



soundings. The raft was moored in such a position 
that its central staff occupied a certain point, deter- 
mined by instruments, and soundings were made. 
At South Inchgarvie, where the foundation is sloping 
rock, piles of sandbags were arranged at the points of 
greatest depth, so that the caissons should settle on 
an even keel. These caissons, after being towed 
into position, were gradually loaded with deposits of 
concrete until they began to touch ground at low 
water. Additional piles of sandbags were then placed 
below in the air-chamber, and the rock was gradually 
cut away on the high side to make a chase for the 
caisson to rest upon when loaded sufficiently to lose 
all its buoyancy at high water. The circular area 
of bed-rock and the supports were then removed by 
degrees. 

Let us imagine ourselves furnished with the en- 
gineers' permission to visit the '^ working face " 
below a caisson. On reaching the deck of the 
caisson we see a powerful steam crane raising loads 
of debris out of an air-lock, at the upper end of 
a tube communicating with the air-chamber 60 
feet below. We are ushered into the workmen's 
air-lock, a circular chamber with another circular 
chamber 3 feet 6 inches diameter in its centre. The 
doors through which we entered are then closed 
tight, and a tap communicating with the air-chamber 
opened until the pressure has gradually risen suffi- 
ciently to allow the opening of doors in the central 
tube. We descend ladders, experiencing a sensation 

97 G 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

of great oppression on the ears and eyes, and pre- 
sently find ourselves among the workmen — mostly 
North Italians, with a sprinkhng of Germans, Bel- 
gians, French, and Austrians, who have been brought 
over by M. Coiseau, the contractor, for this part of 
the work, not as being better physically able to work 
under such circumstances than Britons, but as more 
experienced. Powerful electric lights of 200 candle- 
power illumine the chamber, the sides of which slope 
outwards towards the bottom, ending in a stout steel 
cutting-edge. Two men, armed with heavy sledge- 
hammers, are beating on the top of a crowbar held 
by a third; they are drilling or ''jumping" holes for 
blasting charges. As soon as enough are made the 
charges will be inserted and, when every one has with- 
drawn, after carefully shielding the lamps, be fired 
from above by electricity. Then the men will de- 
scend again and remove the ddbris by means of the 
skips that pass up and down their own air-lock and 
well. Under one side of the caisson, where piers of 
concrete bags support the edge, men are thrusting 
out sandbags that have served their purpose ; and in 
the gaps w^e may perhaps see the startled visages of 
salmon, dogfish, and other denizens of the deep that 
from time to time are attracted to the glare of the 
lights within. 

In the Queensferry caissons a somewhat different 
spectacle would present itself. The drills and cement 
piers are absent ; there is no preparation for blasting, 
for we stand now on more or less stubborn clay. If 

98 



The Forth Bridge 



the sinking of the caisson is still in its earlier stages, 
we make the acquaintance of the air-ejector for dis- 
charging the silt that mixes readily with water. A 
man standing in the muddy mixture lowers to its 
surface the nozzle of a hose, and another man turns 
on a large tap that controls the passage of the com- 
pressed air of the chamber to the outer atmosphere. 
As soon as the tap is opened a rush of air takes place, 
and the nozzle being dipped into the liquid some of 
the latter is carried up the hose by the momentum 
of the air and shot out at the farther end of the 
piping in intermittent spurts. The rate of ejection 
depends largely on the skill of the operator. 

On reaching the hard and stubborn clay below the 
silt, the workmen's energies become unequal to the 
task of removing the ^* spoil " by mere muscular 
effort. The forces of nature are now called in. An 
hydraulic spade, the invention of Mr. Arrol, is set up. 
A word about this spade. It is, described briefly, 
an hydraulic ram working at a pressure of looo lbs. 
per square inch. To its lower end is attached a large 
spade, and to its top a headpiece. Two men fix it 
vertically, with its head against the roof of the 
chamber, and another turns on the water, which with 
giant strength forces the spade into the boulder 
clay, detaching a slice i6 to i8 inches deep and 4 
inches thick. The spade is then moved on a little, 
and the operation repeated until trenches have been 
cut all over the bottom. 

The air-pressure under which the excavators had 

L.of w. 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

to work rose on occasions as high as 40 lbs. to the 
square inch, yet not a single death can be directly 
attributed to these abnormal conditions. " The prin- 
cipal bad effect produced by the air-pressure," says 
Mr. Westhofen, '' appears to be that of severe pains 
in the joints and muscles of the arms and legs. As 
these have been in most cases traced to hard work 
and copious perspiration, and also to too long a 
stay under pressure, it has been suggested as a pro- 
bable cause that small globules of air make their way 
through the skin, or between the skins, where they 
remain and, on the workmen returning to ordinary 
atmospheric pressure, expand, and thereby cause 
the most agonising pains in the joints, the elbows, 
shoulders, knee-caps, and other places. In seeming 
confirmation of this the sufferers got instant relief on 
returning to high pressure. Thus it happened that 
many of those afflicted with this disorder spent the 
greater part of Saturday afternoon and Sunday under 
air-pressure, and only came out when absolutely 
obliged to do so. Various researches were made by 
members of the medical staff in the endeavour to 
give relief or obtain a cure, but, so far, not with any 
degree of success." 

Owing to the nature of the river bottom the sinking 
of the Queensferry caissons was a matter of much 
anxiety to the engineers. At low water especially, 
when the cutting-edge bore down with greatest force, 
a sudden settlement was to be feared, and therefore 
the men were then generally withdrawn ; a precau- 

100 




From a photo lent by} 



ISir Benjamin Baker. 



. The Fife Cantilever, Forth Bridge. 

This illustration gives a good idea of the complex steelwork at the meeting-places of 
the chief members of this bridge. The horizontal tube over the pier, to which the 
tower column and diagonal support, besides the strut and bottom member of the 
cantilever, are fastened, is called a " skewback." To the extreme right are seen a 
rivetting cage and a crane, which move forward with the extension of the cantilever. 



[To face />. loo. 



The Forth Bridge 



tion that on one occasion at least was amply justified, 
for the caisson without warning sank 7 feet, filling 
not only the air-chamber but also part of the air-lock 
shaft with mud and silt. 

The most serious accident that took place during 
the building of the bridge happened to the north-west 
caisson of Queensferry. It had been towed into posi- 
tion during high tide, and at the ebb took the ground 
so firmly that, an unusually high tide occurring soon 
afterwards, it filled and canted over. The consequent 
pumping operations were conducted too fast, and 
before the caisson could be sufficiently strengthened 
on the inside the water outside burst in the plates, 
making a rent about 30 feet long on the lower side. 
This unfortunate occurrence necessitated the con- 
struction of a heavy timber frame round the caisson, 
and nearly ten months passed before it was afloat 
again. 

As soon as the caissons had reached their full depth, 
all tools and appliances were removed from the air- 
chamber, and this last filled up with concrete shot 
down the shafts. Then the caisson above the chamber 
was filled to low- water level, where the granite courses 
commenced, having at this point a diameter of 55 feet. 
At 18 feet above high- water level the piers terminate, 
and are carefully levelled to receive the lower bed- 
plates, which are securely held down by bolts built 
into the masonry. 

The piers being ready, the erection of the steel 
superstructure commenced in the fixing of the '* skew- 

lOI 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

backs " or great steel tubes, with one side flattened 
and attached to the upper bed-plates. From the 
skewbacks run out the lower members of the canti- 
levers, the columns of the tow^ers, the huge diagonal 
struts uniting the foot of one column with the top 
of its neighbour, and horizontal girders towards the 
other piers. 

As soon as the horizontal work immediately above 
the piers was finished, the vertical columns were taken 
in hand. Huge plates, already correctly drilled and 
shaped, i6 feet long and |-inch thick, were placed in 
position by means of cranes. When columns and 
struts had reached a point 50 feet above the piers, 
stagings were built on girders 190 feet long in the 
Fife and Queensferry towers, and 350 feet at Inch- 
garvie, these girders resting in turn upon very strong 
box girders stretching east and west from column to 
column, and raised at each end by powerful jacks 
situated in the columns themselves. In this manner 
the need for continuous scaffolding was obviated, and 
a riveting cage, consisting of a riveting machine 
enclosed in a cylinder of stout iron wire to prevent 
loose rivets, tools, &c., from falling with disastrous 
effects on the workers below, followed the stagings 
up the columns, making permanently secure all the 
work bolted in position by the men above. 

The pressure on the rams required to lift the stag- 
ings — which at Inchgarvie weighed 700 tons — was 
3920 lbs. to the square inch. We read that the first 
lift of the Inchgarvie platform occupied eighteen days, 

102 



The Forth Bridge 



whereas the last, owing to the increased skill of the 
men, took but five hours ! 

Great care was necessary in the erection of the 
towers to ensure that their lateral " batter '' and centre 
lines should be absolutely correct. From time to 
time the structure was checked by means of theodo- 
lites, and when any deviation from accuracy had been 
observed, hydraulic rams were applied to force the 
tubes into their proper position. Any one who has 
tried to bend or straighten the small tubes of a bicycle 
will have some faint idea of the power needed to 
master these giant 12-foot cylinders. 

On the completion of the towers the lower and 
upper members of the cantilevers were commenced. 
The upper members, being in tension, are all straight 
and of lattice-girder work ; but the lower, or compres- 
sion members, are of tubular construction, and spring 
outwards in an arch of polygonal outline, as it was 
found inexpedient to curve the tubes. The tubes 
shrink in diameter and thickness as they leave the 
towers, and approach laterally to the corresponding 
tubes of the nearly parallel member on the other side 
of the cantilever. So that at its end the cantilever has 
diminished in breadth from 120 to 34 feet, thereby 
gaining greatly in power to withstand wind pressure. 

Both top and bottom members were built out by 
the help of travelling cranes, which, starting at the 
foot and summit of the columns, raised material from 
barges in the river below, placed it in position, and 
then moved forward. On reaching the ends of the 

103 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

cantilevers they climbed the upper bow-shaped sur- 
face of the suspended girders. These were built out 
from their ends in a manner similar to that of the 
cantilevers, and a junction was effected near their 
centres as soon as the temperature of the atmosphere 
had expanded the steelwork of the whole structure 
sufficiently to bring the final bolt holes opposite one 
another. The falsework connecting the girders to the 
cantilevers was then cut, and the girders rode free in 
their slides and rocking-posts. In the case of the 
north central girder an interesting episode took place. 
The junction had been made, and the men were 
cutting the rivets of the falsework, when suddenly the 
remaining rivets, some thirty-six in number, were 
shorn by the contraction of the structure, and the 
plate ties parted with a noise like that of a large gun, 
shaking the bridge slightly from end to end. The 
incident caused a little temporary alarm, and lost 
none of its importance as reported in the papers, but 
so far from being a mishap was merely an instance of 
Nature saving Man a considerable amount of toil. 

The permanent way was laid on the internal viaduct 
traversing the Bridge from end to end. Four parallel 
rail troughs, i8 inches deep and i6 wide, were filled 
for 6 inches with teak and pine blocks, and on these 
the platelayers placed longitudinal teak sleepers, 
securely bolted down at intervals to the blocks. The 
rails, of ''bridge'' section, are exceedingly heavy, 
weighing 120 lbs. per lineal yard. At the sliding ends 
of the central girders, where there is allowance made 

104 



The Forth Bridge 



for a longitudinal expansion of 2 feet, special in- 
genious joints are provided, which enable the rails to 
slide backwards and forwards without losing their 
gauge. On each side of the track is a 4-foot path 
for the exclusive use of the officials of the line em- 
ployed in looking after the bridge. 

Before closing this chapter, which, for want of 
space, has not dealt with many interesting points of 
construction, we may notice some statistics which will 
escape the charge of dryness in that they help the 
reader the better to appreciate the nature of the under- 
taking. Work on the Bridge began in January 1883. 
On March 4, 1890, the (then) Prince of Wales formally 
declared the Bridge open to traffic, in a severe wind- 
storm that impressed the company present by its 
impotence to shake the mighty framework of steel. 
The seven years of work represented an expenditure 
in materials and labour of ;£3,i77,286, the largest half- 
yearly payment being made in the last six months of 
1887, when ;^253,5oo were disbursed. 

The piers carry a total weight of 50,958 tons of steel. 
Of this Inchgarvie Tower alone weighs 7036 tons, or 
nearly as much as the Eiffel Tower, which could be 
laid comfortably in either of the two main spans ; 
and a column twice as high as St. Paul's laid at its 
end would barely fill the gap remaining. To sever 
the top ties of the towers a strain of 45,000 tons would 
be required ; and Sir Benjamin Baker himself assured 
his audience at a lecture that half-a-dozen of our 
weightiest ironclads could be safely suspended from 

105 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

the cantilever ends, so far as the Bridge was con- 
cerned. 

The total number of rivets is at least 6,500,000. 
Allowing an average length of 2 inches a rivet, they 
represent a bar 200 miles long, varying in diameter 
from i| inch to | inch. 

As many as 4600 workmen were engaged on the 
Bridge during the busiest times. Among these acci- 
dents were frequent, but mainly attributable to the 
indifference and carelessness of the men themselves, 
who, in spite of repeated ocular proofs to the contrary, 
appeared to think that the fall of a carelessly thrown 
chisel or other tool would not be attended with 
disastrous results. We are not therefore surprised 
to learn that in six and a half years no less than 57 
fatal, and 106 very serious accidents occurred, and it 
comes as a curious reminder of the unreasonableness 
of workmen to read that the principal strike was 
brought about by the fall of a riveting stage, which 
collapsed because those responsible for its manage- 
ment neglected ordinary precautions while hoisting 
it. 

Nothing that can be said will probably more vividly 
present to the reader the size of the Bridge than the 
statement that the area to be painted once every three 
years, inside and outside, is 145 acres, or that of a 
good-sized farm. The whole of the outer surface was 
covered five times during construction, once with 
boiled linseed oil, twice with red lead, and twice with 
oxide of iron paint. A large staff of men is always 

106 



The Forth Bridge 



at work putting on fresh coatings to withstand the 
corroding action of the salt sea breezes. 

The railway passenger is in a particularly unfavour- 
able position to view the Bridge as he passes. By 
putting out his head he can only see a long vista 
of huge tubes and girders, foreshortened in such a 
way as to lose their full impressiveness. Moreover, 
he is at an elevation near the centre of the total 
height. To get a just scenic idea one should ap- 
proach the Bridge by boat on the Forth, so as to 
take it in flank. Then what a stupendous structure 
it is ! a thing of huge lines and triangles ; its geo- 
metrical repetitions out of keeping with the lovely 
landscape, and yet having a grandeur of their own. 
With what pride must the engineers have looked 
upon the finished structure, the child of their brains, 
remorseless consumer of steel and stone, reared amid 
the clash of monster machines, nursed by small 
armies of workmen ! What were the eight years of 
battle with wind and wave, and their trials and 
struggles, now that the last rivet had been driven 
in, and the track opened for the iron steed — a mere 
fly among the steel web of the Bridge, yet the whole 
built for the passage of the fly ! Surely the Forth 
Bridge is the incarnation of engineering romance, in 
which brain and metal and stone have joined hands 
with the powers of Nature to triumph over the 
obstacles placed in man's way by Nature herself. 

Mr. Westhofen, the engineer in charge of Inch- 
garvie, has an eye for the picturesque ; and the author 

107 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

feels that he cannot do better than quote in con- 
clusion his eloquent description of the view to be 
had from the Bridge. 

** The view from the summit of the central tower on 
a clear day is magnificent. The broad river itself, 
with craft of all sorts and sizes, in steam or under sail 
running before the wind, cutting across the current 
on tack, or lazily drifting with the tide, is always a 
most impressive spectacle, upon which one can gaze 
for hours with an admiring and untiring eye. And 
such it is, whether viewed in the glory of sunrise or 
sunset, in broad daylight, with the cloud shadows 
flying over the surface, and a thousand ripples reflect- 
ing the sun's rays in every conceivable shade of 
colour, or in the soft haze of a moonlight night. The 
sunsets in summer are always magnificent, whether 
due to Krakatoan volcanic dust or to the vapours of 
the distant Atlantic, but there have also been many 
sunrises in early autumn when a hungry man could 
forget the hour of breakfast, and one could not find 
the heart to chide the worker who would lay down 
his tools to gaze into the bewildering masses of colour 
surrounding the rising light of day. An unbounded 
view more than 50 miles up and down river. ... At 
night, too, a sight is presented not easily forgotten ; 
the flashing lights of the May and of Inchkeith, and 
many others stationary, such as the harbour lights 
of Granton, Leith, Newhaven, and Burntisland, com- 
bine to form a beautiful picture. At times of con- 
tinued east wind, when large and small craft run for 

108 



1 



The Forth Bridge 



shelter into the Firth, it is not unusual to see from 
150 to 200 vessels anchored in the roads, and the long 
straggling lines of their masthead lights give the 
appearance of a busy town of many streets having 
suddenly risen from the waters. 

''On Jubilee night (21st June 1887), although the 
atmosphere was somewhat thick, sixty-eight bonfires 
could be counted at one time on the surrounding 
hills and isolated points, while the great masses of 
the central towers of the Bridge, lighted up by 
hundreds of arc-lights at various heights where work 
was carried on, formed, with their long-drawn reflec- 
tions in the waters of the Firth, three pillars of fire, 
and afforded a truly wonderful and unique spectacle." 



109 



CHAPTER V 

THE TOWER BRIDGE 

Less imposing as a structure than the giant con- 
queror of the Forth is the new bridge that spans 
the Thames, a short distance east of the Tower of 
London, from which it derives its name. 

The Tower Bridge is, however, of such importance 
and interest, both on account of the problems that 
it has solved, and from the manner in which it has 
solved them, that this great framework of metal and 
masonry, so familiar to the Londoner, deserves in- 
clusion among the chief engineering feats of modern 
times. 

The general outlines of the Bridge, being so well 
known, need little detailed description. Technically, 
it is a three-span bridge, the two outside spans of 
the suspension type carried on stout chains that pass 
at their landward ends over abutment towers of 
moderate height to anchorages in the shore, and at 
their river ends over very lofty towers, themselves 
connected at an elevation of 143 feet above high-water 
level. Extremely powerful ties, borne on the con- 
necting girders, unite the two pairs of chains, making 
the suspension spans to support one another in a 
horizontal direction. 

no 



The Tower Bridge 



The central span has two footways and one road- 
way. The high-level girders bear the upper footway, 
reached by two hydraulic lifts situated in each of the 
main towers. 

The most notable feature of the Bridge, unless we 
except the unique combination of steel and masonry 
work in the towers, is the method of enabling traffic, 
pedestrian and vehicular, to cross the 200-foot space 
between the towers, at the level of the roadway of the 
two outer spans. 

History repeats itself in engineering as elsewhere, 
and, as an example, we see here a reversion to the 
idea of the drawbridge that shut off the mediaeval 
fortress or town from the hostility of the outside 
world. Principle apart, however, it is a far cry from 
the wooden platform, heaved laboriously aloft by 
creaking chains, to the massive 1200-ton steel leaf 
raised noiselessly by the unseen energy of hydraulic 
engines. 

Before entering into details of construction, it will 
be interesting to glance for a moment at the ante- 
cedents of this latest-born of Thames bridges — the 
reason for its erection, and the considerations that 
cast it into its present form. 

Let the reader take a map of London and fix his 
eye on Blackfriars Bridge. A line drawn due north 
and south through the bridge would approximately 
bisect the metropolis. A steamboat travelling west- 
wards from this point passes in succession under 
Waterloo, Westminster, Lambeth, Vauxhall, Chelsea, 

III 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Albert, Battersea, Wandsworth, and Putney Bridges 
— nine in all — open to vehicular traffic. On an 
eastward journey of equal length it would, however, 
have to lower its funnel for but two — the Southwark' 
and London — assuming the Tower Bridge to be still 
in the future. Yet both banks are thronged by some 
of the most densely-populated districts of London, so 
near each other and yet so far for want of means of 
communication. 

A further reference to the map shows us why things 
should be so. This is a region of docks and wharves, 
the latter reaching up to London Bridge, from which 
we have often watched the unloading of cargoes. 

The engineer, called in to effect a compromise 
between the crying needs of road traffic on the one 
hand and the equally important interests of river 
traffic on the other, is able to suggest several methods 
of cutting the Gordian knot : 

1. A low-level bridge, with an opening for vessels 
through it. 

2. A high-level bridge, with inclined road ap- 
proaches. 

3. A high-level bridge, with hydraulic lifts at each 
end. 

4. A tunnel under the river, with inclined ap- 
proaches. 

5. A tunnel with hydraulic lifts at each end. 

6. A ferry. 

Of these the first would be most convenient for the 
landsman, but most inconvenient for the sailor. The 

112 



The Tower Bridge 



second and fourth necessitate very costly approaches, 
the third and fifth continual blocks in the traffic ; and 
as regards ferries, they are at best but very poor sub- 
stitutes for a bridge. 

Among the many plans submitted since 1867 for a 
bridge, one is particularly noticeable for its originality 
— that of Mr. C. Barclay Bruce. He proposed a 
rolling bridge, to consist of a platform 300 feet long 
and 100 wide, which should be propelled from shore 
to shore over rollers placed at the top of a series of 
piers 100 feet apart. The platform would have a 
bearing at two points at least, and, according to the 
designer's calculations, make the journey in three 
minutes, with a freight of 100 vehicles and 1400 pas- 
sengers. Another engineer, Mr. F. T. Palmer, pro- 
posed a bridge which widened out into a circular 
form near each shore, enclosing a space into which 
a vessel might pass by the removal of one side on 
rollers while traffic continued on the other side. As 
soon as the vessel had entered the enclosure the 
sliding platform would be closed again, and that on 
the other side be opened in turn. 

In 1878 Sir Joseph Bazalgette, engineer to the 
Metropolitan Board of Works, recommended the 
construction of a bridge that should give a clear head- 
way of 65 feet above Trinity high-water level, but a 
Bill brought into Parliament for power to build it was 
thrown out on the ground that the headway would be 
insufficient, and on account of the awkward special 
approaches. 

113 H 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

To avoid wearying the reader with a Hst of projects 
we will pass straight on to that of Mr. Horace Jones, 
the late City architect, who in 1878 was asked to 
report upon the various projects of Sir Joseph Bazal- 
gette and make suggestions on his own account. He 
maintained that, as a high-level bridge would not 
give satisfaction, a structure of the same level as 
London Bridge, opening at the centre by means of 
hinged platforms, or bascules, might be advantage- 
ously employed. From his design has sprung that of 
the Tower Bridge — the joint work of him and Sir 
J. Wolfe Barry — which provides a central opening 
of 200 feet clear and a headway of 135 feet. An Act 
for its construction having been passed in the autumn 
of 1885, contracts were let for the foundations of the 
piers and abutment towers up to the level of 4 feet 
above high-water mark. On June 21, 1886, the (then) 
Prince of Wales laid the foundation stone. 

The masonry piers on which the main towers 
stand are remarkable for their size — 100 feet wide by 
205 long — which exceeds that of any in the world, 
with the exception of those of the Brooklyn Bridge. 
The piers being but 200 feet apart, the engineers, 
who were under agreement to leave a clear way of 
160 feet between them, could not build both simul- 
taneously as a whole, since the scaffoldings would 
have narrowed the opening beyond legal hmits. 
They therefore adopted a system of small caissons, 
which should be sunk so as to form a broad wall 
round the area of the pier, and enclose a space of 

114 



The Tower Bridge 



34 by 124I feet, to be dealt with as soon as the 
exterior caissons were in position. 

On the north and south sides of each pier four 
caissons were sunk, 28 feet square and 2| feet apart, 
each end of the rows being joined by a triangular cais- 
son. While one pier was in course of construction, the 
shoreward row of caissons for the other pier was also 
sunk, thus saving time without obstructing the river. 

Reference has been made in the previous chapter 
to the sinking of caissons ; so it need here only be 
stated that at the Tower Bridge no pneumatic 
caissons were employed, but only the open variety. 
Divers cleared away the gravel and mud until a 
caisson had descended such a distance into the stiff 
London clay at which it was thought safe to pump 
out the water at low tide, and then navvies were 
turned in with pick and shovel. At a depth of 
19 feet the caissons were undercut, t,e. the workers 
burrowed beneath their lower edges into the clay 
for a distance of 5 feet horizontally, and 7 feet 
vertically. The undercutting proceeded in sections 
— filled with concrete in succession — so that the 
caisson should not be left unsupported. When all 
the ten external caissons had been sunk and filled in, 
the narrow spaces between them were also filled, and 
the interior enclosure pumped dry and excavated. 
Finally, there emerged from the water a couple of 
gigantic piers of concrete, granite, and bricks, able 
to withstand without settlement a load of 70,000 tons. 
Their cost was ;^i 11,122. 

115 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

The contract for the steelwork in the superstructure 
was let to Sir WilHam Arrol & Co., of Glasgow, who, 
as the reader will remember, had already taken an 
important part in the construction of the Forth 
Bridge. 

Before any metal-work could be placed in position, 
it was necessary to erect stagings from the shore 
abutments to the centre piers. This work occupied 
some months, and when it was completed opera- 
tions at once commenced on the main towers. 

Each tower consists of four octagonal columns, 
connected at a height of 60 feet above the piers by 
plate girders, 6 feet deep, across which are laid 
smaller girders to carry the first landing. Twenty- 
eight feet higher is the second landing, similarly 
constructed, and above that, at an equal distance, the 
third landing leading to the high-level footway. The 
columns each rested on massive granite slabs pre- 
viously covered with three layers of specially prepared 
canvas to make the pressure even and the joint water- 
tight. They were keyed to the bed-stones by great 
bolts built into the piers. 

The first length of column plates having being 
riveted in position by hydraulic riveters, the second 
length was added by means of a crane placed on the 
piers, and when the crane had been raised aloft on 
special trestles the third length followed. The first 
landing served as a platform from which to build 
upwards in like manner to the second, which in turn 
became the base of operations. All four columns in 

116 



The Tower Bridge 



each tower were braced diagonally to resist the wind 
pressure — calculated at a maximum of 56 lbs. to the 
square inch, or several times greater than has ever 
been registered in that locality. 

The columns finished, and the top landing girders 
in position, the workmen attacked the high-level foot- 
way. This was built out from both towers simul- 
taneously on the over-hang principle. First, the 
portions of the cantilevers immediately over the 
towers were erected and anchored to the shoreward 
columns. Then cranes were placed on the completed 
portions and moved forward to add fresh plates until 
the cantilevers had reached the point where the 
central suspended girder began. As at the Forth 
Bridge, this was built on to the cantilever ends, to 
which it was attached by temporary ties, and when 
the centre plates had been made secure, the ties 
were cut, allowing it to ride free at each extremity. 
Throughout the construction of the upper footway 
the greatest care had to be observed to prevent rivets, 
fragments, and tools falling into the river below to 
the peril of passengers on passing vessels. 

Along the upper boom of the footway run the 
great ties connecting the suspension chains at their 
river ends. Each of the two ties is 301 feet long, 
and composed of eight plates 2 feet deep and i inch 
thick, terminating in large eye-plates to take the pins 
uniting them to the suspension chains. The con- 
struction of these chains was one of the most interest- 
ing and at the same time most delicate parts of the 

117 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

whole undertaking. Each chain is composed of two 
parts, or links ; the shorter dipping from the top of 
the abutment tower to the roadway, the longer rising 
from the roadway to the summit of the main tower. 
The links have each a lower and upper boom, con- 
nected by diagonal bracings so as to form a rigid 
girder. They were built in the positions they had 
finally to occupy, supported on trestles, and were 
not freed until they had been joined by huge steel 
pins to the ties crossing the central span and to those 
on the abutment towers. In order that the reader 
may have a clear conception of the action of the ties 
and chains, we will personally conduct him from end 
to end of the series. At the north end of the bridge 
is a huge mass of concrete surrounding an anchorage 
girder 40 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 4 feet deep, to 
which is attached a land tie springing up to the shore 
edge of the abutment top. At the anchorage end the 
tie is joined by a pin, 2 feet in diameter, to the girder, 
and at its upper end to the horizontal links crossing 
the abutment tower. The tie is built up of twelve 
plates 21 inches wide and nearly an inch thick. The 
link plates are 5 to 5^ feet wide and f inch thick and 
22 feet long. At each end they rest on roller bearings 
moving over 3-inch steel plates very carefully levelled. 
Then comes the short link of the chain, attached by 
eye-plates and a steel pin, 2J feet in diameter, to the 
tie and also to the lower end of the long link, at which 
point both are joined to the girders of the roadway. 
Passing up the long link we reach the top of the towers 

118 



The Tower Bridge 



and note the great pins and roller bearings at each 
end of the 301-foot ties. Then down the south long 
link to the roadway, up the short link, and over more 
roller bearings to the last section of the series — twelve 
plates 35 inches wide secured by rivets to the south 
anchorage girder, which is of larger dimensions than 
its northern fellow. This arrangement of chains, 
links, and ties permits a slight amount of horizontal 
motion to compensate the stresses of unequal loading 
on the two suspension spans, and the alterations in 
the length of the metal connections in varying tempera- 
tures. Roller joints are also made in the flooring of the 
side spans at each end and at the junction of the links 
to allow for longitudinal expansion and contraction. 

The boring of the pin holes was a matter of great 
delicacy and considerable difficulty. The holes in the 
eye-plates of ties and chains had been cleared to 
within half-an-inch of their final diameter before leav- 
ing the contractor's works at Glasgow, and the finish- 
ing touches were added when the plates were in 
position. The labour of expanding out the holes 
to their full diameter was equivalent to boring a 
hole 2 feet 6 inches in diameter through 6^ feet of 
solid steel ; and most of this boring had to be done 
in somewhat awkward positions at the top of the 
main towers and abutments, whither it was necessary 
to transport engines, boilers, and boring tools. The 
fixing of these generally occupied as long a time as 
the actual boring, since the greatest accuracy had to 
be observed throughout the process. 

119 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

The roadway of the suspension spans is carried on 
cross girders, 6i feet long, weighing 22 tons. At each 
end they are connected by 6-inch pins to the suspen- 
sion rods hanging vertically from the chain links. 
The rods are from 5I to 6 inches in diameter, and 
furnished with a screw-coupling at their centres to 
enable the accurate adjustment of the girders to the 
true level of the roadway. Before leaving the works 
each rod had been subjected to a tension of 200 tons, 
so that of their sufficiency there can be no doubt. 
Longitudinal girders of smaller section were then laid 
on the transverse girders, and on these again corru- 
gated floor plates, afterwards filled up with concrete 
to form a slightly convex surface, over which wood 
paving blocks were placed. 

We may now turn our attention to the central span 
of the roadway, which forms, perhaps, the most 
interesting part of the whole structure. 

Each bascule, or leaf, of the drawbridge consists of 
four parallel girders, 13^ feet apart, and about 160 feet 
long. When lowered it projects horizontally 100 feet 
towards the opposite tower, spanning exactly half of 
the opening. The point of balance is a solid pivot, 
I foot 9 inches in diameter and 48 feet long, that 
passes through the girders 50 feet from their shore 
ends. The pivot is keyed to the girders, and rotates 
on roller bearings carried by eight girders crossing 
the piers horizontally from north to south, themselves 
borne on girders under their ends. 

The chief difficulty attending the erection of the 

120 



The Tower Bridge 



bascules resulted from the condition compelling the 
contractors to leave a clear way of i6o feet between 
the towers. Under other circumstances the girders 
might have been completed before being brought 
into line and connected together. As it was, the 
engineers first built the portions on the shore side 
of the pivot, added a short section of the river 
side steelwork, and launched the incomplete girders 
from the main stage close to the piers into the bascule 
chambers. A temporary steel mandrel was inserted 
to carry their weight while they were turned into a 
vertical position, and then withdrawn to make room 
for the permanent pivot, weighing 25 tons. The 
outer ends were added to until a point 53 feet from 
the pivot had been reached, and work in this direction 
then stopped until the raising and lowering of the 
leaves for purposes of adjustment had been concluded ; 
after which the girders were completed vertically. 

The leaves are moved by means of pinions (or cog- 
wheels) engaging with racks fixed to the edge of two 
steel quadrants riveted to their two outside girders. 
The accurate attachment of the racks was a some- 
what difficult business on account of the confined 
space in which the men had to work. 

To preserve the balance of the bascule it was neces- 
sary to load the shorter, or inner, arm with counter- 
poises, consisting of 290 tons of lead and 60 tons 
of iron enclosed in ballast boxes at the extreme ends 
of the girders. The function of the raising gear is 
merely to overcome the inertia of the 1200 tons of 

121 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

the leaf, and the friction caused by wind pressure on 
the exposed surface. In designing the hydraulic 
machinery allowance was made for a wind pressure 
of 56 lbs. to the square foot, which would produce 
a force of 140 tons acting with a leverage of 56 feet. 

The source of power is a building on the east side 
of the southern approach, where are stationed two 
large accumulators with 20-inch rams loaded to give 
a pressure of from 700 to 800 lbs. per square inch. 
An accumulator is the hydraulic counterpart of the 
reservoir bellows in an organ. It ensures a steady 
pressure, as its capacity is greater than that of the 
engines it operates ; and since the pumping engines 
can be constantly at work filling it, there is always 
a plentiful supply of energy stored against the 
periodical opening and shutting of the bascules. The 
water is led through two 6-inch pipes, provided with 
flexible joints at points of movement, to the two sets 
of engines on the south pier ; and to those on the 
north pier through continuation pipes passing up the 
south tower, across the footway, and down the north 
tower. After use, the water is returned through a 
7-inch pipe to the pumping engines placed in two 
of the arches forming the southern approach to the 
bridge. 

The engines are duplicated on each pier to avoid 
the inconvenience that would result from the break- 
down of a single installation. The power of the 
engines is transmitted to the racks through a series 
of cog-wheels, which increase the effective pressure 

122 



The Tower Bridge 



of the pistons almost sevenfold. Hydraulic energy 
is also used to work the two hydraulic lifts in each 
main tower, and to shoot home and withdraw the 
four locking bolts at the outer extremity of the 
southern leaf. 

In this connection the following extract from Mr. 
J. E. Tuit's fine book on the bridge will be of interest. 
" Every precaution has been taken so that the opera- 
tion of opening and shutting the bridge shall be 
rendered as safe as possible. By an automatic 
arrangement attached to the hydraulic engines on 
the piers they are caused to close the valves which 
admit the high-pressure water just at the end of the 
operation of raising or lowering the leaves, so that 
even if the man in charge were to make a mistake 
through an error of judgment, or be prevented from 
attending to his duties, the leaves would gradually 
bring themselves to rest either in a vertical or hori- 
zontal position without the least chance of any cata- 
strophe. As a still further precaution, however, 
hydraulic buffers are fixed in such positions that if 
the men in charge lost control of the bridge, and 
at the same time the apparatus above alluded to for 
bringing up the motion of the leaves were to fail, 
their impact would be taken by these buffers, which 
would bring them to rest in the same manner as that 
in which the hydraulic cylinders that are attached 
to heavy guns take up the recoil.'' 

In cabins at the east and west ends of each pier 
are indicators to tell the men in charge whether the 

123 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

accumulators are full before starting the engines, and 
whether the locking bolts are in their proper position. 
Further provision is made to prevent the raising of 
the bascules before they are cleared of traffic. The 
policemen in charge have to stretch a chain across 
the entrance to each pier. As soon as the chain is 
fixed, the man carrying it will be able to turn on 
the water to a small cylinder that draws it tight and 
at the same time releases the locking arrangement 
of the levers in the cabin. So that until the chain has 
opposed a barrier to the traffic, it is impossible to 
draw the locking bolts at the centre of the span. 

The masonry of the towers is independent of the 
steelwork that it encloses. In fact, great care has 
been taken that there shall be no adhesion between 
the two substances. This part of the structure, 
carried out by Messrs. Perry & Co., calls for no 
special attention here, though it impresses itself 
favourably on the eye of the spectator. Objections 
have been raised to the external masonry on the 
ground that it is a ^* hollow sham," but we fancy that 
were the covering suddenly stripped away, so as to 
expose the steel skeleton beneath, many objectors 
would be silenced. The general opinion is that with 
so many metal structures exposing the nakedness of 
their outlines the London Corporation is to be con- 
gratulated on having thus boldly made a concession 
to the aesthetic tastes of the community which 
does not detract from the value of the bridge as a 
utilitarian erection. The cost of construction was 

124 



The Tower Bridge 



enhanced, but the result is one of which Londoners 
will be proud in years to come. 

The Tower Bridge, typical of modern engineering 
skill, has an interesting connection with the old 
London Bridge — itself a mechanical triumph con- 
sidering the science of the time — built towards the 
end of the twelfth century. That bridge, which stood 
the wear and tear of nearly 700 years, was endowed 
with certain lands which, with the growth of London, 
became extremely valuable, and are now known as 
the Bridge House Estates. The revenue from them 
has enabled the Corporation of London to rebuild 
the London Bridge, throw another across the Thames 
at Blackfriars, and also to construct the subject of 
this chapter. 

We may conclude the account by a few figures. 
The bridge is exactly half a mile long, including the 
approaches, the side spans each occupying 270 feet 
clear. Its extreme height, measured from the bottom 
of the foundations to the summit of the main tower 
ridge-tiles, is 293 feet. The roadway of the side spans 
is 35 feet wide, flanked on each side by a i2|-foot 
paved footway. In the central span the widths are 
reduced by 3 and 4 feet respectively. Its construc- 
tion, which occupied eight years, consumed 235,000 
cubic feet of granite and stone, 20,000 tons of cement, 
70,000 cubic yards of concrete, 31 million bricks, 
and 14,000 tons of iron and steel. The columns on 
the main piers and abutments required five miles of 
steel plates. 

125 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

The total cost was estimated at three-quarters of 
a million pounds, of which the bridge itself represents 
rather more than half a million. 

Sir J. Wolfe Barry, the engineer responsible for the 
construction, includes among his other important 
works the great Barry Dock near Cardiff, and the 
completion of the Inner Circle Railway between the 
Mansion House and Aldgate stations. 



126 



CHAPTER VI 

AMERICAN BRIDGES 

The second place among monster bridges is held by 
the Brooklyn Suspension Bridge, connecting Man- 
hattan Island, on which stands New York Proper, 
with Long Island. Previously to 1883 New York, 
with its population of two millions, and Brooklyn, 
counting a million inhabitantvS, were kept in com- 
munication across a narrow strait, 12 miles long, 
opening into Long Island Sound, known as the East 
River, by a number of steam ferries, one of which 
alone transports 22,000,000 foot passengers and 
1,100,000 vehicles annually. 

With the growth of population the absence of some 
permanent connection between the two islands was 
so severely felt that it was determined to link the two 
with a bridge of such a height above the water as to 
offer no obstruction to the shipping passing down 
the Sound to New York Harbour. The spot selected 
for the bridge is at the southern end of the East River 
strait, where it narrows down to a width of rather 
more than a quarter of a mile. 

In deciding on the suspension type, American en- 
gineers had two good precedents — the Ohio River 
and Clifton Suspension at Niagara, which then held 

127 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

the record in point of span. The Ohio Bridge at 
Cincinnati had a clear leap of looo feet ; while that 
at Niagara measured 1268 feet between the centres 
of the towers, standing on either side of the gorge 
below the Falls. This bridge, opened to traffic in 
1869, as a result of but twelve months' work, hung 
from two cables 1888 feet long, passing over rollers 
on the summit of the towers, which were built of 
wood strengthened by massive iron frames. The 
cables each contained 931 wires, ^inch diameter, 
twisted into seven ropes. When loaded with an 
average amount of traffic the bridge weighed 360 tons. 
To prevent excessive lateral oscillation strong steel 
guy ropes were strung from various points on the 
structure to anchorages on the side of the gorge. 
After standing and doing useful service for many 
years, the bridge was destroyed by one of the tremen- 
dous hurricanes that periodically sweep down the 
Niagara gorge as through a funnel. 

There remained, however, the Niagara Railway 
Suspension Bridge, completed in 1855. This has a 
span of 821 feet, the track passing 245 feet above 
the river. It should be explained that the lower 
chord of the bridge is a girder with two floors, the 
upper of which carries the railroad, while the lower 
serves for foot and ordinary vehicular traffic. As 
originally constructed two masonry towers bore the 
weight of the four cables — each containing 3640 iron 
wires — that support the girder. After twenty-six 
years of wear it was discovered that these towers had 

128 



American Bridges 

been bent inwards to a dangerous extent, owing to 
the rollers on which the cable saddles work at the 
tower tops having become clogged with cement. The 
engineers therefore built iron skeleton towers out- 
side the masonry, and without in any way interrupting 
the traffic of the bridge, transferred the cables from 
the stone to the iron supports by means of powerful 
hydraulic jacks. This is a most interesting feat, and 
probably unique. When the bridge was in course of 
construction Robert Stephenson, engaged on the Vic- 
toria Tubular Bridge at Montreal, said to the designer 
of the Niagara Suspension — Mr. John A. Roebling — ''If 
your bridge succeeds, mine is a magnificent blunder." 
The light American structure did succeed.^ 

The Brooklyn Bridge, like that at Niagara, is 
carried on four main cables. The supports are two 
huge towers, rising 272 feet above high water. At 
the river level they measure 140 feet broad by 50 
deep, which dimensions decrease to 120x40 feet at 
the summit. 

On the New York side the masonry is carried down 
to rock 78 feet below water level, giving the tower a 
total height of 350 feet. The masonry built into the 
two towers aggregated 85,000 cubic yards. The cen- 
tral span is 1595^ feet. Between the towers and the 
anchorages are two 930-foot spans ; and beyond these 
approaches that add 2534 feet to the total length — 
5989 feet, or about a mile and a furlong. 

The most interesting feature of the bridge is the 

^ " The Railways of America," by Thomas M. Cooley. 

129 I 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

cable work. Each of the four cables, anchored at 
either end to massive 23-ton plates, embedded in 
huge masses of masonry, each representing more than 
44,000 tons, contains 5296 galvanised steel wires, 
which were carried separately from tower to tower, 
and bound up together in a parallel formation into a 
cylinder i5f inches in diameter. 

The breaking strain of a cable is 12,000 tons. As 
each strand is 3572 feet long, about 1200 miles of wire 
were used in the cables. 

These support six parallel steel trusses, on which 
is laid the roadway, 85 feet wide, divided into two 
carriage-tracks, two tramways, and one footway. The 
bridge rises towards its centre on a gradient of ^l 
per cent, the headway increasing from 119 feet at the 
towers to 135 in mid-channel. 

The bridge cost |i5,ooo,ooo, two-thirds of which 
was contributed by the Brooklyn municipality, and 
one-third by that of New York. It was begun in 
1870 and opened to the public in 1883. Upwards of 
a quarter of a million people cross the bridge daily ; 
but so great is the traffic between Manhattan and 
Long Island that three more bridges are in course 
of construction across the East River. These will, 
when completed, be in the first rank of such struc- 
tures, and formidable competitors in regard to size 
with the Brooklyn Bridge. 

A traveller in the United States is struck by the 
versatility of the American bridge - builder, whose 
genius develops most happily towards the erection 

130 



J 







St 

05 



o 
o 



American Bridges 

of light, airy viaducts spanning many of the valleys 
through which the great network of railways run. 
The States have now nearly 200,000 miles of track 
laid, and on the average there is one span of metallic 
bridge for every three miles of railway, giving a total 
of over 63,000. The increase in weight of locomo- 
tives and rolling-stock has led to the renewal of many 
of these bridges, by the substitution of more substan- 
tial work. And the rapid extension of existing sys- 
tems constantly demands the manufacture of new 
bridges. Consequently the demand has driven manu- 
facturers to standardise their patterns, and arrive at a 
distinct understanding with the railway engineers 
that, except in special cases, where divergence is un- 
avoidable, all h3i^es ordered shall conform to certain 
stereotyped designs, which have been decided upon 
after much experimentation. 

The American bridge-building Companies, than^"^ 
to this scientific arrangement, and the large number 
of orders that they are called upon to fill, have ad- 
vanced the practice of bridge-making to a point that 
enables them to compete favourably with the manu- 
facturers of other countries. The Yankee railway 
engineer gives measurements to the bridge Company, 
which by long practice knows just what is required 
to meet a particular case, and turns its mechanics, 
armed with all manner of labour-saving tools, on to 
cheaply made steel. In a few weeks or months the 
bridge is ready for delivery, the makers confident that 
when the pieces are assembled in situ they will come 

131 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

together " like a clock." Very probably the Company 
does the erecting as well, so that after the order is 
given the railway Board's part of the work is confined 
to handing over a cheque to the proper amount, when 
the bridge has been passed by their engineers. 

On American railroads the trestle bridge is a very 
common object, often towering to a giddy height, that 
dwarfs the giant locomotives passing overhead. In 
1890 there were in the States 147,187 wooden trestle 
spans, aggregating 2127 miles of track. These, as 
liable to insidious decay and danger from fire, are 
being replaced by steel structures as fast as is possible. 
A notable instance is the Portage Viaduct on the Erie 
Railway, New York, crossing a river 234 feet above 
the bed. The old viaduct contained more than a 
million and a half feet of timber, arranged in piers 
formed of three grouped trestles. This was burned 
in 1875, and in its stead now stands a remarkably 
slender-looking viaduct of wrought iron, weighing 
but a small fraction of the wooden structure. 

The same railway boasts another remarkable 
viaduct, the Kinzua, 2400 feet long and 305 feet high. 
It was built by Messrs. Clarke, Reeves & Co., in the 
short space of ^/iree months^ without the use of any 
staging or ladders. The original spider-like supports 
have recently been replaced by steel trestles of a more 
solid nature, better calculated to sustain the great 
increase of rolling-stock weight. 

Outside the country of its birth the American 
bridge is making headway. In recent years British 

132 



American Bridges 



builders have several times felt their inability to com- 
pete with their transatlantic cousins, when creation 
and erection has to be hurried through. To take 
three notable examples. The Atbara Bridge, seven 
spans of 147 feet, was tendered for by American 
makers at ;^io, 13s. 6d. per ton ; construction to take 
six weeks and erection eight weeks. The nearest 
English tender showed £1^, 15s. per ton, and twenty- 
six weeks. The Uganda viaducts. East Africa, also 
fell to American makers, since their price was but 
three-fifths of the Enghsh figures. And in the third 
instance, that of the Gokteik Viaduct, Burma, their 
price was little more than a half that of British makers, 
and the contract time one year as against three years. 
These examples show how unequal is the competition, 
owing largely to the conservatism of English methods, 
/ and the imbecilities of trades-unionism in the British 
? Isles. To ** keep his end up '* the British manufac- 
turer will need to consign much of his machinery to 
the scrap heap, adopt standard designs, and instil a 
spirit of greater enterprise into his employes. 

The Gokteik Viaduct, as the loftiest trestle erection 
in the world, and among the latest born, deserves 
special notice. It affords a typical illustration of 
American methods. 

The Burma railway, running from Rangoon to 
Mandalay, a distance of about 400 miles, has lately 
been extended in an easterly direction through the 
Shan States to Lashio, en route to the Kunlon Ferry on 
the Salween River, following the track over which in 

133 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Marco Polo's time the Chinese armies marched to 
Mandalay. 

Eighty miles east of the latter town is the Gokteik 
Gorge, with an average depth of 1300 feet, eaten out 
by the Chungzoune River. It was first proposed to 
cross this formidable obstacle by means of short rack 
railways on the Abt principle, which should lower 
trains from the high ground to a point in the gorge 
where huge blocks of limestone have fallen into the 
glen to form a natural bridge 500 feet above the 
river. A viaduct 80 feet high and 500 feet long would 
suffice for the crossing. 

Eventually it was decided to flatten the grades of 
the approaches to i in 40, and raise the viaduct level 
to over 300 feet above the natural bridge. It should 
be said of the approaches themselves that they pass 
through very rough country, where the gradients are 
too steep to admit of curves. By means of switch- 
back reversing stations every two or three miles the 
train clambers slowly upwards in a zigzag course, on 
the edge of awful precipices. On the eastern side of 
the gorge the line still sticks to steep hillsides, passes 
through two tunnels and heavy cuttings, and then 
twists upwards by help of three semi-circular loops. 

The viaduct was designed by Sir Alexander Rendel 
& Co., consulting engineers to the Burma Railways 
Company. The contract fell to the Pennsylvania 
Steel Company of Steelton. Our American cousins, 
said Sir Frederic Fryer, Lieutenant-Governor of 
Burma, at the opening ceremonies, obtained the 

134 



American Bridges 



contract because they were able to submit a far more 
favourable tender than any English firm, both in 
point of cost and of time. 

Within four months of the signing of the contract 
the first shipload of material was despatched from 
New York. Two months later it arrived at Rangoon. 
The transport of 4332 tons of steel over a line that 
had suffered severely from the 15-foot rainfall of the 
wet season was much delayed ; but in spite of 
obstacles erection commenced in October. 

To facilitate the classification and separation of the 
various parts and the handling of them by ignorant 
natives, each truss, girder, and column was painted a 
distinctive colour, and the joints when shop-assembled 
were streaked with special combinations of stripes on 
each adjacent piece. Along with the bridge material 
came pneumatic reamers and riveting hammers, 
hoisting engines, derricks, telephones, and last, but by 
no means least, thirty-five American workmen. 

To aid in the erection a temporary line was laid in 
zigzags down the side of the gorge ; this carried 
material to the foot of the viaduct, and also helped the 
transport of rails, sleepers, and even two locomotives 
(in pieces) to the further side, where 35 miles of track 
were laid during the construction of the viaduct. 

From Steelton to Gokteik is 10,599 i^il^s, an almost, 
if not quite, unprecedented distance to send the ready- 
made up parts of so large a structure. As fast as the 
metal arrived at the bridge-end it was whipped out of 
the metre-gauge cars by great steam derricks, which 

135 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

handed them over to smaller derricks for sorting and 
storage. At times the press of work was so heavy 
that the trucks, immediately they were emptied, were 
picked up by the 15-ton crane and set down on the 
bank in piles, many feet below the track, to make way 
for loaded cars. 

As soon as sufficient stuff had accumulated the 
'' traveller " was erected at the south end of the bridge. 
This machine, which plays so important a part in 
American bridge building, and is largely responsible 
for the celerity of operations, is a large framework, 
the rear end of which is anchored to a completed 
section of the structure, while the forward and larger 
part overhangs and acts as a crane through which 
parts of the next section are lowered into place. The 
Gokteik traveller was 241^ feet wide, 60 feet high, and 
219 feet long, with an unprecedented overhang of 165 
feet. Cars running along the track transferred joists 
and trusses to the running tackle, which quickly let 
them down and held them in position while the 
riveters, mostly natives, fixed them. Some British 
and German sailors proved very useful on the traveller 
and topmost points of the rising towers, and set a 
very wholesome example to the 350 odd coolies 
engaged. 

Now for a few figures about the bridge. Its total 
length from abutment to abutment is 2260 feet. For 
281 feet at one end and 341 at the other, it is curved 
to a radius of 800 feet. The intermediate 1638 feet 
runs tangentially (in a straight line) at a height vary- 

136 




1 






^ 




^^ 






^ -t-> 






C/3 


a^ 




(U rH 


i 




> — 




Cb 


^ 


2-c 

t/3 


iT' 


,Q 


ir'o 


j» 




■^ 


"^ 


^-S 


1 


§ 


1^ 


1 
S 


^ 


s:'^ 


"+-i 
^ 

^ 


!5 o 


JO 


^o 


~ 
^ 


lO 




a 


V5 


3 >> 
c3 a, 










^ 


ai2 




o 


SS 




s 


'SB 




^ 


-§1 




-«o 


a.i5 




^ 


£1^ 




o 


O cfl 




?»i 


■*-• ;y 






"S-^ 




.C) 






"--i 


ns 




■-^ 


^ D 




*£? 


•+-'T5 




^ 






-Si 






«o 


-d ^ 




' T*» 


i^.S 




1 


03 -5 










^ 


rti 'W 




:S 


^£ 




Q 


o*^ 




•-; 


-M O 

tJO en 




so 

3 




S 

^ 


^ 


G 


Q, 




tJO<u 






.s s 


^ 




-55 -S en 


Q 

S 
p 




OS o b 



I 



American Bridges 

ing between 130 and 320 feet above the natural bridge 
and valley slopes. There are seventeen spans, ten 
120 feet long, seven 60 feet long. The fifteen trestles, 
or towers, each of four columns (with one exception), 
are 24I feet broad at top, and widen towards the 
bottom with a batter of 5 in 24. The trestle is 40 
feet long, and is divided into storeys 35 feet high, 
which are braced diagonally. At the highest point 
of the viaduct, over the natural bridge, there is a 
double tower 80 feet long, with six columns 320 feet 
high. The 120-foot girders are of the lattice type, 
the 60 and 40-foot plate-sided, 42^ and 60J inches 
deep respectively. 

The viaduct will eventually carry a double track, 
besides a footwalk for pedestrians. At present ac- 
commodation for the footwalk and one set of rails 
only has been provided ; the other girders and trusses 
necessary for completion will be added at some future 
time. 

The men worked from 7 to 12 A.M., and 1.45 to 6 
P.M., except on such days as the furious monsoon 
blew through the gorge, or the heavens emptied them- 
selves in deluges of rain. Under favourable con- 
ditions the structure rose with astonishing speed, 
some of the 200-foot towers going up in three or 
four days. The double tower consumed a month, 
as its immense height rendered construction more 
dangerous, and consequently less easy. 

As soon as a tower was finished, the big girders for 
the space intervening between it and that on which 

137 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

the traveller rested were swung out and fixed. Then 
followed horizontal stringers, cross floor beams, ties, 
and rails. These placed, the huge loo-ton framework 
rolled forward to the end of the new span, and com- 
manded another masonry pier, whence a new tower 
soon began to rise. 

On November i, 1900, after nine months' labour, the 
last of the 200,000 field rivets was driven, and the 
Gokteik Viaduct stood complete. As 800,000 rivets 
had already been closed in the shops, the total shows 
just one million. It is a striking testimony to the 
thoroughness of American workmanship that 232,868 
separate pieces shipped from Steelton fitted with 
wonderful accuracy when assembled in the Gorge. 

The bridge cost the Railway Company ;£6o,i25 ; 
and it is considered that they have received good 
value for their money. Englishmen naturally regret 
that so important a contract should have passed 
into alien hands ; but they will not grudge the praise 
due to the pushful American for a fine work, skilfully 
and quickly performed. 



138 



CHAPTER VII 

THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY 

On the 9th of November 1901, the following telegram 
flashed along the wires from M. Witte to his Imperial 
master, the Czar : — 

"On May 19, 1891, your Majesty at Vladivostock 
turned with your own hand the first sod of the Great 
Siberian Railway. To-day, on the anniversary of 
your accession to the throne, the East Asiatic Rail- 
way is completed. I venture to express to your 
Majesty, from the bottom of my heart, my loyal 
congratulations on this historic event. With the lay- 
ing of the rails for a distance of 2400 versts, from the 
Transbaikal territory to Vladivostock and Port Arthur, 
our enterprise in Manchuria is practically, though not 
entirely, concluded. Notwithstanding exceptionally 
difficult conditions, and the destruction of a large 
portion of the line last year, temporary traffic can, 
from day to day, be carried on along the whole 
system. I hope that within two years hence all the 
remaining work to be done will be completed, and 
that the railway will be opened for permanent regular 
traffic." 

To which the Czar replied : — 

" I thank you sincerely for your joyful communica- 

139 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

tion. I congratulate you on the completion within so 
short a time, and amid incredible difficulties, of one of 
the greatest railway undertakings in the world/' 

Ten years. Four thousand miles of railway laid 
down. More than a mile a day : a record. 

Europe and Western civilisation at the one ex- 
tremity, China and Eastern civilisation at the other. 
In between the greatest of the continents, and across 
that continent the unbroken (save for a few miles) 
band of iron. 

A huge country — covering five million square miles 
— of swamp and forest and rich corn land, and moun- 
tains, and deserts. A country of intense cold and 
great heat. A country outwardly wretched, but hiding 
in its bosom treasure incalculable. A country of 
mighty rivers flowing from the central mountains of 
Asia to the Arctic Ocean, frozen solid half the year, 
but at certain seasons among the most magnificent 
waterways of the world. A country that was once 
inhabited by a great population, and then for ages 
the abode of a few wandering tribes ; now receiving 
fresh life from tens of thousands of emigrants, who 
pour into it from Russia over the iron way. A 
country, in short, of which, but a few years ago, we 
knew little whatsoever ; even less that was enticing, 
or creditable, or propitious. We regarded it as a 
mere dumping-ground for Muscovite criminals, chained 
to the deadly labour of the mines, or cast abroad to 
fare as best they might in the great solitudes. But 
now it has suddenly leapt into notice as a new Land 

140 



The Trans-Siberian Railway 

of Promise, to which are turned the eager and in- 
quiring eyes of half the world. 

The story of Siberia begins with the picturesque 
figure of Yermack — ''the Millstone'' — a boatman who 
plied his trade on ''Little Mother Volga," as the 
Russians fondly term their mightiest river. He fell 
into a bad habit of piracy, and after a series of 
murders was forced to flee for his life to the Urals, 
where he met a family of traders who were preparing 
an expedition to Siberia, the land of the precious 
sable. He entered their service as trapper, and in 
1 58 1 started for hunting-grounds far away in the heart 
of North Asia. Many doughty deeds were wrought 
by Yermack and his followers in their struggle with 
the Tartar tribes, and his victories over the savage 
tribes brought him pardon and great honour. But 
his enemies killed him at last, and other leaders took 
his place, penetrating further and further westwards 
in search of sable, suifering terribly at times, but still 
pushing on the limits of the Empire to Tobolsk, 
Yeneseisk, Irkutsk. In 1650 the gallant Khabaroff 
conquered the territory of the Amur, and brought 
the Russian standard to the Pacific Ocean. Then 
followed a period of rest for 200 years, at the end 
of which General Mouravieff formally annexed the 
district, which by the Treaty of Pekin, 1861, passed 
into Muscovite hands for ever. 

The Russians now had an important province in 
the Far East, washed by the waters of a great ocean, 
and traversed by a noble river. They determined 

141 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

that it should be joined to their European posses- 
sions by something more commodious and more safe 
than the ill-made, bandit-infested post-road that wound 
its muddy or frozen length across the steppes and 
mountains. 

America had been spanned by the iron way. Why 
not Siberia ? The engineering difficulties arising from 
natural configuration would not be insuperable. 

Jogging the Russian elbow was the Anglo-Saxon 
engineer. It is interesting to note that the scheme 
of laying a ribbon of steel across the Asiatic con- 
tinent first matured in English and American brains. 
As far back as 1857 an American named Collins 
offered to connect Irkutsk to Chita, some hundreds 
of miles east of Lake Baikal. The following year 
an English syndicate proposed a railway from Moscow 
to the Sea of Japan, and undertook its construction 
for a price. But the Russians preferred to wait until 
such time as their own engineers could cope with the 
Herculean task. For forty years they planned and 
surveyed, gathering experience from the great railway 
pushed eastward to Merv and Sarmakand. So strong 
was their faith in the potentialities of the Great Lone 
Land of Asia as a dwelling-place for their teeming 
millions, that when at last the work was taken in hand 
they faced an enormous expenditure despite the finan- 
cial straits in which their country was sometimes in- 
volved. 

The sum of ^40,000,000 was voted for the con- 
struction of the line. In order to expedite its progress, 

142 



The Trans-Siberian Railway 

its total length, from Cheliabinsk, on the European 
frontier, to Vladivostock on the Japan Sea, was divided 
into the following divisions : — 

1. Cheliabinsk to Obi, the Western Siberian section, 
800 miles long. 

2. Obi to Irkutsk, the Central Siberian section, 1137 
miles. 

3. Irkutsk to Myssovaia on the south-east shore of 
Lake Baikal. 

4. Myssovaia to Stretensk, the Trans Baikal section, 
686 miles. 

5. Stretensk to Khabarofsk on the Ussuri River, 
the Amur Section^ 1326 miles. 

6. Khabarofsk to Vladivostock, the Ussurian Rail- 
way^ 478 miles. 

The first sod was cut and the first barrow-load 
wheeled at Vladivostock by the present Czar, who in 
1891 as Czarewitch made a grand tour of the East. 
A start was made at the Cheliabinsk end in the 
following year. Ever since construction has steadily 
progressed in the face of physical and other difficulties 
at a pace which eclipses the laying of the great trunk 
lines of the United States and Canada. 

In December 1895 the Trans-Siberian was com- 
pleted to Omsk; in 1896 to Obi; in 1896 to Irkutsk, 
3371 miles east of Moscow. Simultaneously the 
Ussurian section had reached Khabarofsk, so that 
in seven years 2503 miles of rail had been opened to 
traffic. 

Stretensk was reached in July 1900, and there the 

143 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

original scheme terminated. To avoid carrying the 
Hne along the Amour an arrangement was come to 
with the Chinese Government in 1896, by which the 
engineers were given rights to drive the track across 
North Manchuria in an almost straight line to Vladi- 
vostock ; and in 1898 the Russo-Chinese Bank {alias 
Russian Government) obtained a concession to make 
a branch due south from the Manchurian section to 
Port Arthur on the Gulf of Pechili. These sections 
were pushed forward with the greatest possible speed, 
owing to political events in the Far East, which de- 
manded the presence of large bodies of troops to 
protect — or extend — Russian interests. 

The Trans-Siberian Railway, as measured from 
Cheliabinsk, has a length to Vladivostock of 3967 
miles, and to Port Arthur of 4242 miles. If we add 
to this the Ussurian system, and the section run- 
ning north-east from Cheliabinsk to Kotlass on the 
Northern Dwina, we arrive at the grand total of 
nearly 6000 miles, or about double the mileage of 
the '^Canadian-Pacific." The railway in its course 
crosses the upper waters of the Obi, Yenesei, Lena, 
and Amur at points where they begin to be easily 
navigable by vessels of considerable size. These 
rivers, each between 2000 and 3000 miles long, ex- 
clusive of tributaries, are being connected by canals, 
which will form the most splendid system of water 
communication in the world, and act as feeders to 
the great railway at many points. Their utility during 
the construction of the latter has been incalculable, 

144 



The Trans- Siberian Railway 

Three names are conspicuous among the many 
connected with this gigantic undertaking : those of 
the Czar, who is President of the Railway Committee ; 
of M. Witte, the Minister of Finance ; and of Prince 
Hilkoff. Of these the second was once a station- 
master on the Southern Russian railways : and the 
third worked under an assumed name as a paid 
employ^ on the railroads of the United States, where, 
in the shops and elsewhere, he gained the great store 
of practical knowledge that he is now turning to 
such good account. 

The chorus of admiration evoked by the successful 
termination of their labours has been unanimous. 
Yet questions have been raised about two points, on 
which criticism has laid a finger. To the outsider 
it is a matter of surprise that the railway should 
have given a wide berth to Tobolsk, the capital of 
Western Siberia, and to Tomsk, the capital of the 
Central Provinces. These towns will be served by 
branch lines, but it is open to doubt whether in the 
future their importance will not decline, and new 
towns situated on the main track take up the mantle 
that has fallen from their shoulders. Engineers of 
other nations also wonder why rails of such lightness 
at i8 lbs. to the foot have been used, while 20- to 25-lb. 
rails are the common practice in Russia, and 28- to 33- 
Ib. rails the rule in Europe and other countries. We 
must, however, remember that the need for economy 
was most pressing, and that in using the lighter rails 
the Committee have precedents in the United States, 

145 K 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

where in many instances heavy metals are laid down 
only when traffic has assumed certain proportions. 
Already sections are being re-laid with 70-lb. rails, 
those they replace being relegated to the sidings 
which occur at frequent intervals throughout the 
system. 

To gain an adequate idea of the immensity of the 
'' Great Siberian/' we should undoubtedly travel over 
it. A map, even on a large scale, is but a poor aid 
to the imagination. Omsk and Obi, to take an in- 
stance, seem but a few miles apart on paper, whereas 
a journey equal to that from London to Edinburgh 
separates them. Place one point of a pair of com- 
passes at Cheliabinsk, and the other at Berlin. De- 
scribe a circle, and it passes through Lake Baikal, 
some 1500 miles from the journey's end. 

We will, nevertheless, endeavour to gain some con- 
ception of what the traveller sees, by calling Aladdin's 
genie to our aid, and transporting ourselves to the 
terminal station at Moscow — the finest station of the 
old capital — from which a train is about to start on 
its 4000-mile trip. 

A fashionable throng fills the waiting-rooms and 
buffets, for the departure of the Siberian express is 
still a novelty, and attended by more than the usual 
amount of bustle and leave-taking connected with 
a] long journey. Russians are very proud of their 
express, which is indeed worthy of our close atten- 
tion. In it the travellers will be confined for a 
fortnight at least, so we will see how their comfort 

146 



The Trans-Siberian Railway 

has been provided for. First we notice that the 
train is lit throughout by electric light, generated in 
a special compartment by a separate boiler and 
engine. Even the head- and tail-lights are fed from 
this source. One car is fitted up as a drawing-room, 
with luxurious chairs and couches, upholstered in 
soft leather, writing-tables, a piano, maps ; another 
contains a restaurant, where a first-class meal may 
be had at all hours of the day, a beautifully fitted 
bathroom and an exercising machine. When you wish 
to retire for the night press the electric bell button, 
and a servant appears to make up the comfortable 
bed that is cunningly folded away during the day- 
time. Above the bed are levers to admit fresh air 
or hot water to the heating apparatus as you wish. 
The corridors that traverse the train from end to end 
are provided with filter ventilators which keep out 
the dust and let in oxygen. This train de luxe is put 
on by the International Sleeping Car Company ; a 
guarantee for everything being all that the heart of 
traveller could wish. 

At nine P.M. the engine gives a deep whistle, and 
draws out into the night, and on to the rolling 
steppes that stretch away monotonously east and 
west and south and north for hundreds upon hundreds 
of miles. Yet these are some of the greatest granaries 
of Europe. Large stretches are chequered with the 
green of the growing crop, or the gold of the harvest, 
or the grey of the stubble. Giant straw-stacks pro- 
claim an abundant harvest past ; threshed by the 

147 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

trampling ponies of the peasant, and winnowed after 
the manner of the Israelites. 

On, on, over the steppes to Batraki, where a 
splendid bridge, named in honour of Alexander II., 
crosses the Volga, with thirteen spans of 350 feet each 
— a total of nearly a mile. Then we roll into Samara, 
a city of 90,000 souls, whence a branch line runs 
south to Orenburg, with Tashkend as its ultimate 
objective. This region some years ago was swept 
by a fearful famine that carried off the population 
like flies, and covered the steppes with their graves. 

Two hundred miles and we reach Oufa, a town of 
many churches and schools, hospitals and asylums 
for poor and aged, libraries and museums : a town of 
which the poorer classes are sunk in deep ignorance 
like their fellows in the rest of the empire. This is 
one of the anomalies of Russia — utter illiteracy hand 
in hand with splendid equipment for learning. 

The train has now begun to taste the Urals, 
which heave themselves up between the vast plain 
of Russia, and the vaster Siberian plain beyond. 
The hillsides bristle with broad expanses of fir 
and birch forest, but the grey rock breaks through 
at the summit. We pass Zuleya, the famous iron 
district whence have come millions of tons of metal, 
and reach Zlatoust on the summit of the range. 
A few miles further on is the far-famed Stone of 
Parting — one of the most pathetic landmarks ever 
reared by the hand of man : a simple triangular 
obelisk, on one side the word " Europe,'' on another 

148 



The Trans-Siberian Railway 

"Asia." How many tear-stained, heart-broken part- 
ings has this dumb stone witnessed ! How many 
thousands of chained convicts have defiled here, 
urged by the whip of Cossack, torn from the arms 
of the friends that gaze sorrowfully after them from 
beyond the limit of Europe. 

We are soon on the down grade ; the scenery 
merges once more into that of the steppes, here 
covered with high grass, birch trees, and small 
swampy lakes. 

Cheliabinsk. The first station on the Siberian Line 
proper : the junction for the line that runs north- 
wards through Ekaterinburg, Perm, Viatka, to Kotlass 
on the Dwina, from which port goods are sea-borne 
to England. This outlet of Siberian trade will be 
hugely developed in the future. 

Before passing into Siberia let us endeavour to 
form an idea of that country, hitherto of darkness, 
now being brought to the light by the magic of the 
engineer. Physically, Siberia is divided into three 
great zones : the Tundra, or frozen swamps of the 
north, abode of almost perpetual frost ; the Taiga, 
the most wonderful belt of forest on this earth, 
stretching for a thousand miles and more east and 
west between the Tundra and the most valuable belt 
of all — the Steppes, deeply covered by stoneless, dark 
earth, which with proper cultivation will become one 
of the greatest granaries of the world. Were Siberia 
but blest with a warmer climate, there would be no 
land to compare with it, such is its extent and variety. 

149 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

So intense is the cold, reaching to 50 degrees below 
zero in many places, that even during summer the 
earth is still frozen hard but a few feet below the 
surface, while crops wave above. In winter the rivers 
are not merely covered with ice but actually frozen solid. 
On account of the climatic conditions the engineers 
met with many and great hardships and difficulties. 
While constructing the Trans-Baikal section they 
had to blast the cuttings with dynamite, as the earth 
was congealed to the consistency of rock. At the 
stations water-supply pipes had to be laid in culverts 
provided with a heating apparatus, and masonry 
could be built only in artificially warmed shelters. 
The Ussurian railway was driven with the greatest 
difficulty through virgin forests of cedar and larch, 
intertwined with wild vines and creepers ; and when 
made the track often suffered severely from the heavy 
floods that occurred during the best working season. 
Plague wrought havoc among the beasts of burden, 
and fever swept off many of the workmen. In the 
Kirghiz steppes, too, water and cold taxed the utmost 
exertions of the constructors. No less than 30 
miles of bridges cross the many rivers over which 
the railway passes, and for hundreds of miles the 
track is protected from flood only by being raised 
on a 5 - foot embankment above the surrounding 
country. In the mountainous districts of the Altai 
and Yablonoi the engineers had to overcome diffi- 
culties comparable to those encountered in the 
Rockies and Andes. 

150 



The Trans-Siberian Railway 

To return to Cheliabinsk, the quarantine station 
where all emigrants must show a clean bill of health. 
Our train progresses at a leisurely 15 miles an 
hour through the monotonous landscape, which the 
iron way traverses with mathematical straightness 
for several leagues at a stretch. Every verst we see 
the watchman — an ex-convict — step from his little 
hut and wave his flag to show that all is right on 
his ''length/' Every twenty versts or so we pass a 
wayside station — generally on a loop to give a clear 
passage to express traffic. As a rule the stations 
are well-built and clean, surrounded by neat pali- 
sades ; each with its water - tower and storehouse, 
earthed up to the roof to keep out the cold. Now 
and then in the sidings we see a third- or fourth- 
class train full of settlers on the way to their new 
homes, crowded like sheep into windowless trucks. 
Or perhaps there are windows, gridded with bars, 
from behind which peer the faces of convicts bound 
for the prisons and mines of the interior. 

A fine bridge, 2400 feet long, leads us across the 
Irtish into Omsk, founded by Peter the Great. It 
has been prophesied of Omsk that some day it will 
be the chief town of Siberia, as the centre of a great 
system of water-ways, and near important gold-fields 
and copper mines, and the even more valuable coal 
deposits of Pavlodar, where is said to be a seam 
joo feet thtcky extending for miles. " Vast quantities 
of coke will be produced here, shipped down the 
Irtish to Tiumen, and thence transported to the Urals 

151 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

for the ironworks — a supply the importance of which 
will be appreciated by those who know anything 
about the iron industry."^ 

A railway has been projected to run from Omsk 
southwards to join the system of Central Asia, which 
is also being pushed forward vigorously by the 
Russian military authorities. This would complete 
an enormous triangle, with corners at Samara, Omsk, 
and Tashkend. 

Three hundred miles of track through the great 
corn-growing steppes bring us to Obi, the end of 
the W. Siberian section — opened in October 1896 — 
which in three years has sprung from zero to a 
population of 14,000. Our next stopping - place is 
Taiga, another example of rapid growth, owing to 
its being the junction for Tomsk. This latter town, 
despite its fine University, electric light, and 50,000 
inhabitants, may in a few years be eclipsed by its 
southern new-born neighbour. 

The word Taiga tells us what to expect in our 
progress. The scenery changes. The steppe gives 
way to mile after mile of forest, one of the most 
valuable assets of the Czar in an age when the world's 
timber supply has sensibly diminished. We drop 
down into Krasnoiarsk — the city of the Red Rock — 
the chief town of the Yenesei Government, possessed 
of the finest gardens in Siberia, where imported trees 
fare badly. Like Omsk it is situated on a mighty 
river, the Yenesei, which rises in Mongolia and takes 
its broad course for 2500 miles to the Arctic Ocean. 

1 ** All the Russias," by Henry Norman, M.P., p. 155. 



n 



The Trans-Siberian Railway 

Ships come hither direct from London. On the east 
of the town a fine bridge of six spans, each span 
474 feet, clears the river. The separate spans were 
put together on the bank, and launched into position 
by means of rollers and a special crane. 

We now rise to breast the Altai Mountains, which 
passed, we soon reach Irkutsk, the terminus of the 
Central Siberian. 

Irkutsk, on the Angara, the great tributary of the 
Yenesei, is a curious mixture of new civilisation and 
barbarism. It owns a fine theatre that cost ;^30,ooo, 
and a good museum ; a telegraph office, whence mes- 
sages may be sent all over the world ; an organised 
telephone service, stretching fifty miles into the 
country ; an excellently equipped fire service ; a 
noble cathedral ; shops in which you may buy all 
the luxuries of the West ; and a bank. It is also one 
of the three centres to which all gold mined in the 
district must be sent for tests in the Government 
laboratories. Since its erection in 1870 the labora- 
tory has passed ^£60,000,000 worth of gold. 

But, owing to the presence of escaped convicts, 
Irkutsk has been described as ''the one place in the 
Russian Empire where a man cannot feel safe." To 
go alone in the streets after dark is risky, as the 
police cannot cope with the ruffians of the place. 
Consequently people retire indoors early, closely bar 
their doors, and before going to bed fire a revolver 
out of the window to warn would-be marauders and 
housebreakers what to expect. 

153 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

A short journey from Irkutsk brings us to the most 
interesting spot on the railway — Lake Baikal. The 
^' Holy Sea," as the Russians call it, is one of the 
largest fresh-water lakes of the world, yielding place 
in size only to Superior, Huron, Michigan, and Vic- 
toria Nyanza. It has an area of 14,500 square miles, 
and so great is its profundity that, though its surface 
is 1500 feet above sea-level, its lowest depths descend 
several thousand feet below the bosom of the Pacific 
Ocean. On all sides mountains gird it in with frown- 
ing cliffs and indent it with eighty capes. For the 
native it is an object of worship and superstition, 
since on the island of Olkon dwells Begdozi, the Evil 
Spirit, who must be appeased by sacrifice. From the 
north end flows out the Chilka, a tributary of the 
Lena ; from the south-west the Angara, the main 
feeder of the Yenesei. 

The waters are much vexed by storms, which 
raise waves 6 or 7 feet high. In November the lake 
begins to freeze, and for four and a half months is 
held in the grip of Winter under an ice coating 9 
feet thick, traversed by huge cracks that make sleigh 
traffic risky and uncertain. 

The lake is the most serious obstacle that the en- 
gineers had to face ; for the mountainous nature of 
its setting renders the circuit of the south end a very 
arduous and costly task that will not be completed for 
several years to come. For present purposes the gap 
in the line is served by a train-carrying steamer — the 
Baikal — specially built for forcing a passage through 

154 



The Trans-Siberian Railway 

the ice. Jetties supported on caissons project into the 
lake at the termini, separated by 42 miles of water, 
and, by means of a platform adjustable to the varying 
level of the lake, transfer the train to the boat, where 
it is accommodated on one of the three tracks that 
are laid along the axis of the middle deck. The 
Baikal is a vessel of 4000 tons, driven by three 
engines of 1250 horse -power each, working two 
screws in the stern and one in the bow. The vessel 
was built by Sir William Armstrong, Whitworth, & Co. 
at the Elswick Works, Newcastle-on-Tyne ; then taken 
to pieces and the parts delivered at St. Petersburg. 
Waggons transported the pieces — the heaviest weigh- 
ing about 20 tons — to Krasnoiarsk, and sleighs con- 
tinued the journey to Irkutsk, whence the parts were 
floated down the Angara to the lake. Russian work- 
men, superintended by English engineers, there assem- 
bled the parts and added the boilers, pumps, and 
other machinery. 

The ice-breaker is 290 feet long, and of 57-foot 
beam. Ballast tanks, distributed in the double bot- 
tom, hold 580 tons of water. At the water-line she is 
protected by a belt of steel plates, reinforced with 
heavy wooden beams 2 feet thick. On the upper 
deck are spacious and comfortable saloons for the 
accommodation of 150 passengers. 

In clear water the Baikal makes 13 to 14 knots 
an hour. Ice 3^ feet thick gives way to her. 
The forward screw scoops out the water ahead, and 
the stern propellers force the vessel up on to the 

155 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

ice until her weight breaks through, her advance 
being 3 to 6 miles an hour. A second ice-breaker, 
the Angara^ is 195 feet long and 34 in beam, 
and of equal speed but smaller ice-cleaving power. 
Like the sister vessel, she was transported to the lake 
in pieces and there assembled. 

While on the subject of ice-breakers — among the 
most interesting of steam vessels — we may glance at 
the Ermacky built m 1898 for service in the Baltic. 
She has a displacement of 4000 tons ; length, 305 
feet ; beam, 71 feet ; depth, 42^ feet ; 8000 horse- 
power ; speed, 15 knots. Her shape is such that, 
when pinched in ice, she tends to rise, after the 
manner of Nansen's Fram. On her trial trip among 
Arctic floes she easily dealt with ice many feet thick ; 
and in the Baltic she has been of the greatest use in 
extracting frozen-in vessels, including a warship. 

East of Lake Baikal the line rises into the Yablonoi 
Mountains, attains a maximum elevation of 3412 feet, 
and descends to Naidalovo, the junction of the 
Stretensk branch and the main line, which reaches the 
Russian frontier at Nagadan. This is a little-explored 
country, inhabited by Mongols, of which the chief 
traflSc is the tea-carrying trade. The line is well laid 
here on heavy rails, supported by ties bedded in 
cement. Beyond Kailar, a town of 3000 inhabitants, 
it crosses an elevated plateau to the great Kinghan 
range, and then drops once more to Kharbin on the 
Sungari river, which is the engineering headquarters 
of the Chinese railway. To this district legend assigns 

156 



The Trans-Siberian Railway 

the birthplace of Ghenghis Khan, who, in his many 
wars and invasions, is said to have destroyed five or 
six million human beings. In the beginning of the 
thirteenth century he overran Western Asia with steel 
and fire ; and to-day the same elements have invaded 
his land in turn. But the steel is in rails and the 
fire in the furnaces of mighty locomotives. 

At Kharbin we can take our choice of Port Arthur 
or Vladivostock, the former 500, the latter 350 miles 
away ; though on the map we appear almost at the 
end of our travels. Selecting Port Arthur, we jog 
slowly along past Mukden, the largest town yet en- 
countered, with its 200,000 souls. A short branch of 
20 miles links it with the main-line. 

Dalny, on the Gulf of Korea, is our next halting- 
place, and a unique city. For though streets and 
squares have been laid out, schools and churches 
provided, electric light and cars installed, there is as 
yet no population. It is a town quickly built for the 
future : one that may become a great port, thanks 
to its situation on an open harbour which never freezes. 

At Port Arthur we end our roaming on the iron 
way. Here we see the '^ mailed fist'' of Russia in 
the batteries bristling with cannon of all sizes, from 
the 12-inch monster to the 4-inch quick-firer; in the 
barracks to shelter large bodies of troops ; in the 
torpedo boats darting in and out of the harbour 
under the shadow of the huge men-of-war ; in the 
dockyards ; and in the military carriage and accoutre- 
ments of every one we meet. 

157 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

A hundred miles north of Port Arthur the Pekin 
branch diverges. Russia has thus a hold on the very 
throat of China. To-day a regiment may be in 
Moscow ; in three weeks' time its ojfficers may issue 
their orders within the walls of Pekin. This, then, 
is one of the real issues of the Siberian Railway — the 
immense leverage that it will give to the Muscovite 
in any struggle with the Mongolian. Over the iron 
track will roll all the martial arts and engines of the 
West. Is the time ever coming when the Mongolian 
will reverse the order of things aud pour his countless 
hordes again towards Europe, now so much nearer 
than in the time of great Ghenghis ? 

The Russians have spent, or will have to spend, 
upwards of loo million pounds before their great 
line is in first-class running order. 

Honour to whom honour is due — the railway is a 
magnificent scheme, carried through with indomit- 
able perseverance. 

But will it pay ? This is the question asked by 
Russians, English, Germans, Americans — the world. 
There are those who are ready to utter Cassandra 
prophecies of broken finances, climatic deterrents 
to immigration, frontier troubles with the Chinese. 
But a far larger number see in the railway returns a 
promise of a bright future. It has been mentioned 
that the line was laid with light metals ; this because 
the initial traffic was expected to be but moderate. 
What happened ? Scarcely were the sections declared 
open than a rush set in. In 1898 100,000 tons of 

158 



The Trans-Siberian Railway 

goods accumulated on the western and central lines, 
waiting months to be forwarded to their destination. 
The line was utterly unable to cope with the immense 
body of merchandise thrust on to it. In 1899 the same 
thing recurred, 7000 waggons blocking the line. Con- 
sider these figures. In 1896 the Western Siberian 
carried 160,000 passengers, 69,000 emigrants, 169,470 
tons of merchandise. In 1897, 236,000 ordinary 
passengers, 78,000 emigrants, 242,000 tons. In 1898 
the figures increase respectively to 535,000, 133,000, 
449,000. 

The Central Siberian in the first year named carried 
14,700 passengers ; in 1898, 407,680. Merchandise 
increased from 16,350 tons to 250,816 tons. 
"Since 1898 the augmentation has continued. How 
could it be otherwise ? On the one hand a new 
country, richer in gold than the Transvaal ; richer in 
coal than any other country ; richer in graphite than 
Ceylon and Cumberland ; the greatest timber-grow- 
ing country ; a great future granary ; bountifully 
stocked with valuable fur animals ; a Midas treasure- 
house of iron, copper, tin, lead, silver, salt, precious 
stones ; the coming paradise of the hunter and 
tourist ; a present well-developed grazing and cereal 
country. 

On the other hand, a vigorous Government bent on 
making room for the millions that in European Russia 
live in a wretched state of semi-starvation ; capitalists 
of all nations eager to invest their wealth in enter- 
prises that may yield a huge return ; a world that 

159 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

finds in the Trans-Siberian the shortest and quickest 
route from Europe to the Pacific. 

The Russians promise that, when their grand line is 
in full working order, the journey from London to 
Shanghai will be possible in fifteen to sixteen days, 
made up as follows : — 

London to Moscow ... 3 days 
Moscow to Vladivostock . . lo „ 
Vladivostock to Shanghai . • 3 » 

This at a cost of about £^Oj food included. By sea 
the same journey costs at present nearly double this 
sum, and occupies rather more than double the 
estimated time. 

''The following will then be the shortest route 
between the United States and the Far East vid 
Siberia, New York, Havre, Paris (London passengers 
will go via Dover and Ostend to Cologne), Cologne, 
Berlin, Alexandrovo, Warsaw, Moscow, Tula, Samara, 
Cheliabinsk, Irkutsk, Stretensk, Mukden, Port Arthur ; 
and the total length of this journey (excluding the 
Atlantic) about 7300 miles, of which 297 miles will be 
in France, 99 miles in Belgium, 660 miles in Germany, 
2310 miles in European Russia, and about 4000 miles 
in Asiatic Russia. These are the official figures/' ^ 
Another quotation bears on the same subject : — 
*^ From January 1905 a train de luxe^ composed 
solely of first-class carriages, will be run by the com- 
pany from Warsaw to Moscow and Port Arthur ; the 

^ From ** All the Russias," by Henry Norman, M.P. 
160 



1 



The Trans-Siberian Railway 

train will be run as many times weekly as the Com- 
pany may deem advisable. The value of the new 
concessions obtained by the Company may be inferred 
from the fact that its northern express, its southern 
express, its eastern express, &c., unite all the capitals 
of Europe and Warsaw, where passengers will find 
Trans-Siberian carriages. The reason why a more 
thoroughly effective service of international trains 
de luxe will not be commenced by the company before 
1905 is, that it is not until that year that a line running 
round Lake Baikal will be completed. When this 
line has been opened for traffic, and when the perma- 
nent way of the Trans-Siberian Hne has also been 
improved, an acceleration of the train service will be 
practicable. The Trans-Siberian line will not only be 
a means of transit between Western Europe and 
Japan and the north of China, but it will also be the 
shortest route between England and Australia. It is 
expected, indeed, that it will eventually be possible 
to reach Australia from London via Siberia in 
twenty-two days."^ 

We may here bid farewell to the *' Great Siberian." 
But before leaving the confines of the Russian Empire, 
a word should be said of the great water schemes 
which are playing, and will play, as important a part 
in its development as the far-reaching tracks of the 
iron horse. 

^ Engineeringy May 2, 1 902. 

161 L 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

For more than a hundred years after the time of 
Peter the Great, Russia depended for the transporta- 
tion of her population and commerce on the 60,000 
miles of natural waterway with which she is endowed. 
Her physical configuration is such that all her large 
rivers rise in the plateau of the Valdai Hills, thereby 
affording the engineer a unique opportunity for using 
his arts to the immense advantage of the country at 
but a small comparative expense. A total of 1000 
miles of canals unites the head waters of the Volga, 
Don, Dnieper, Dwina, and Duna, enabling boats to 
pass from the Caspian to the White Sea, from the 
Black Sea to the Baltic, and from St. Petersburg to 
the foot of the Ural Mountains. 

With the growth of the railway system has come a 
great expansion of canal mileage. It is to-day recog- 
nised that the era of the canal and canalised river, 
so far from being of the past, is but entering its 
period of greatest usefulness as the handmaid of the 
metal track. The Manchester Ship Canal, the Kiel 
Canal, the Corinthian Canal for sea-going vessels, 
the network of smaller channels for smaller craft that 
wrinkles the face of America, China, India, and Europe, 
are witness to this. Huge schemes are in the air, on 
paper, in progress. 

The greatest of all these in Russia is the Baltic- 
Black Sea Ship Canal, some 2000 miles in length. 
A syndicate of French and Belgian engineers offered 
to cut a channel 28 feet deep from the Baltic to 
Kherson — an important port on the Dnieper — of such 

162 



The Trans-Siberian Railway 

amplitude as to float a heavy warship from one end 
to the other. The price asked was ;^i40,ooo,ooo, too 
great for the present means of the Government, 
though in the future the plan will probably be carried 
out, and so pass into the greatest of all engineering 
feats. Further schemes connect the Black Sea with 
the Sea of Azov by a canal through the narrow neck 
joining the Crimea to the mainland, and the Black 
Sea with the Caspian, by uniting the Don with the 
Volga. A company has already offered to effect the 
connection for the sum of ;^8,ooo,ooo. The attempt 
was made two hundred years ago by the great Peter, 
and frustrated by the physical difficulties. These in- 
clude the shallowness of the Don, which at its mouth 
is beset with shifting sand-bars. Here the powerful 
and effective steam dredger will have a fine field open 
to it in clearing away these troubles to navigation. 
The canal made, what possibilities would unfold 
themselves ! The Volga, which, with its tributaries, 
numbers 8000 miles, is the home of great steamers 
of 6000 tons capacity, huge floating tanks of Baku 
petroleum, enormous timber rafts — 15,000 come down 
annually — barges and small vessels innumerable. On 
its banks are Astrakan, Kasan, Nijni-Novgorod — 
where ;^40,ooo,ooo changes hands at the great fair in 
a few weeks — and the old capital, Moscow. The 
Caspian is flanked on all sides by districts that will 
flourish by-and-by, and lies on the north of Persia, 
which country would be connected directly to the 
Mediterranean Sea by the proposed canal, and so 

163 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

obtain a northern outlet to supplement the Persian 
Gulf on the south. 

Nor do Russian plans stop at the Caspian. The 
conquerors of Turkestan would bend to their will the 
mighty Oxus, one of the most storied rivers in the 
world, and divert it from its present to its ancient 
bed ; so that instead of seeking the Aral Sea, it may 
empty itself into the Caspian. Inasmuch as the Oxus 
(or Amu-Daria) is in places over a mile wide, has a 
volume three times that of the Danube, and draws its 
waters from the eternal snows of the Pamirs, the 
project is one that may be described as sensational. 
The deflection would lower the level of the Aral Sea, 
but would open a waterway from the whole world to 
the borders of Afghanistan, whither steamers already 
ply on the river itself. 

Mention has already been made of the canal that 
links St. Petersburg with the Urals, which oppose a 
wall between the Russian and Siberian waterways. 
On the eastern side of the range are the Obi and 
Yenesei, joined by a canal, which renders navigation 
of large boats possible from the Urals to Lake Baikal, 
and thence to the very borders of China. 

Some years ago a syndicate of private individuals 
tried to cut a canal through the Urals to supply the 
missing link between the Baltic and Mongolia. When 
a few miles had been finished the fatherly Govern- 
ment stepped in and declared that such a work was 
for the State to direct, and must wait for its comple- 
tion until finances permit There is a prospect that 

164 



The Trans-Siberian Railway 

at no far distant time we shall be able to float our 
house-boats on a holiday trip for 6000 miles in 
Russian territory through the hearts of two con- 
tinents. 

These projects — and feats — are indeed startling 
proof of the new leaven that is working in that 
wonderful mass of despotism, militarism, officialism, 
guiding grinding poverty and benighted ignorance 
with the tenacious enthusiasm and genius of master 
minds. At present the official commands, and the 
moujik — poor down-trodden machine — obeys; but 
when the leaven has leavened the whole lump down 
to the poorest peasant, what will the empire that has 
the Trans-Siberian, Trans-Caspian, Trans-Caucasian 
railways to its credit, not to mention a hundred 
works of comparable difficulty, have to fear from 
comparison with the mightiest nations that have ever 
been ? 



165 



CHAPTER VIII 

CAIRO TO THE CAPE 

What's in a name ? Little perhaps. But unite a 
couple of names into a catchword that neatly ex- 
presses the political wishes of a large body of people 
or a nation, and their influence may be great. 

'^ Petersburg to Pekin " has been heard in Russian 
circles for years, and lo 1 the Trans-Siberian Railway. 

'^Berlin to Bagdad,'' cried the German, and we 
learn of schemes for a railway from the Prussian 
capital to the Persian Gulf. We shall see what will 
happen ! 

Of late years Englishmen, too, have not lacked their 
alliterative phrase. ''The Cape to Cairo," or '' Cairo 
to the Cape." Either way it tickles the ear, and is 
very suggestive. One sees in one's mind's eye the 
locomotive puffing through the terra incognita on 
which some little light has been thrown by Living- 
stone, Stanley, Grant, Speke, Grogan, and other in- 
trepid explorers ; puffing steadily ahead through 
forest and swamp, mountain and lofty plateau, beside 
great lakes and over mighty rivers, till it emerges on 
the sands of Egypt, or the more hospitable plains of 
Rhodesia. 

Who first conceived a Trans-African railway it is 

i66 



Cairo to the Cape 



at this time hard to say. But we know who first 
brought the idea into prominence, and took decisive 
steps towards its reahsation. That man was the great 
empire-builder, Cecil Rhodes. Essentially a man of 
vast schemes, he treasured the conception of a metal 
highway from one end of Africa to the other, on 
English soil throughout almost its entire length. The 
railway to Khartoum grew from military necessity. 
The Cape lines developed to keep pace with the needs 
of colonisation. Cecil Rhodes added Rhodesia to 
the British Possessions, and strained every nerve to 
traverse the new country with a line that should form 
an important link in the great chain ; and, after vainly 
seeking aid from the English Government, started a 
Company to carry through his ideas. Furthermore, 
he approached the German Emperor, and obtained 
concessions — for a price — to carry his line through 
German territory to join the system of British Central 
Africa, 

His untimely death has stilled the guiding hand, but 
the work is carried on, and doubtless in due time 
the word "finis'' will be written to this important 
chapter in continental engineering, and we shall be 
able to book direct from Cairo to the Cape for the 
grand tour of Central Africa. 

The w^ork is stupendous, and the difficulties are 
great — especially the political. Through unlucky want 
of foresight the red portion of the map of Africa is 
severed by German and Belgian territory for a dis- 
tance of some 350 miles. But for that break all would 

167 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

be plain sailing, since, if need bids, the engineer will 
not be denied, as this volume endeavours to show. 

Owing to this '' foreign element '' in the path of the 
Cape-to-Cairo, it cannot serve strategical ends. Start- 
ing, as it does, from the east end of the Mediterranean, 
it will never be able to compete against the direct sea- 
route from England to the Cape in point of speed. Its 
object is commercial. Like a gigantic backbone, it 
will carry the nerves of commercial life along the 
continent, promote local traffic, and by means of 
branches to the oceans on east and west, furnish out- 
lets for the great future trade of Africa's wealthiest 
regions — the central. 

Until a railway comes it is impossible to judge the 
capabilities of those tropical countries round the great 
lakes. But let the iron way pass through, and then 
what wealth of cattle, grain, rubber, cotton, sugar, 
spices, and minerals of all sorts may reward the capi- 
talist who has risked his money ! Africa is a country 
to be conquered by the railway. Already the Uganda 
line — of which more presently — has dealt deadly 
blows to the slave traffic, and given us such a grip 
on the country as nothing else, not even the constant 
incursions of disciplined troops, could give. The 
same story will soon be told of the Cape to Cairo 
line. 

The first stage of the scheme was completed long 
before Mr. Rhodes had touched it with the magic of 
his name. In 1859 — Mr, Rhodes was then six years 
old — a line was begun between Cape Town and Well- 

168 



Cairo to the Cape 

ington, 58 miles away. The discovery of diamonds 
in Griqualand West, 1867, caused a sudden extension 
to Worcester, through very difficult country, where 
heavy gradients and sharp curves are the rule. The 
terminal station quickly changed its name, Matjes- 
fontein, Kimberley, Vryburg, as the rail passed over 
the rolling Karoo. In 1885 the first train steamed 
into Kimberley ; in 1890 Vryburg stabled the iron steed. 

Mr. Rhodes now came in. In 1893 the Rhodesia 
Railways Company was formed for driving a line 
through Mafeking to the Zambesi. The British South 
Africa Company advanced the money, and Messrs. 
Pauling & Co. undertook the contract, with Sir 
Charles Metcalfe and Sir Douglas Fox as engineers. 
The going is easy through Bechuanaland, and con- 
sequently railhead advanced very fast. By June 1895 
Gaberones was reached. On November 4, 1897, a 
decorated locomotive slid into Bulawayo, 1360 miles 
from Cape Town. 

The engineers have not halted there. To the north- 
east the line stretches a farther 250 miles to Salisbury, 
where it joins the track running south-east to Beira 
on the Portuguese coast. Another track runs north- 
west from Bulawayo to the Wankie Coal Fields en 
route to the magnificent Victoria Falls. As Cecil 
Rhodes wished it, the spray of the Falls will soon 
pass over the carriages. From the Zambesi the rail 
is destined to pass through North-Eastern Rhodesia, 
rich in minerals and rubber, to the southern end of 
Lake Tanganyika. 

169 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

From this point the route is a matter of discussion. 
Some people urge making use of the string of great 
lakes, Tanganyika, Kivu, Albert Edward Nyanza, the 
Albert Nyanza, joining them by short lines, and so 
attaining the Nile, which would float the traveller and 
his merchandise down to Khartoum, where he may 
take his choice of river or rail. 

Major-General Sir Rudolf von Slatin, an authority 
worth quoting, is entirely in favour of utilising the 
Nile waterway between Khartoum and Uganda. 
"With reference to the Cape to Cairo railway," he 
says, '^ in my opinion it will be quite useless, and only 
a waste of money, to continue the railway south from 
Khartoum. . . . From Khartoum to Uganda is practi- 
cally impossible for a railway without the expenditure 
of immense capital, and in any case during the rains 
there would be so many interruptions that a line 
would be practically useless. As you have a water- 
way in this direction and a river navigable the whole 
year, it would seem a waste of time and money to 
build a railway which could never be relied on."' 

As the line will serve commercial purposes, it is 
therefore probable that for many years it will 
terminate at or near the Albert Nyanza, 

About the middle section — i.e. from the south end 
of Tanganyika to Albert Nyanza — Mr. E. S. Grogan, 
the first white man to traverse Africa from south to 
north, has made the following suggestions. 

To utilise Tanganyika from Kituta to Usambara 
near the north end. From that point a light railway 

170 



Cairo to the Cape 



could be laid along the flat valley of the river Rusisi to 
the south end of Lake Kivu. Then steamer again for 
60 miles to the north-east corner of the lake, whence 
another short line would pass through the mountains, 
and drop gradually to Lake Albert Edward, which it 
would skirt on the right bank, until the main stream 
of the Nile is reached. Except in the neighbourhood 
of Mount Ruwenzori the country does not afford any 
great physical obstacles to the engineers, whose dead- 
liest foe probably would be the fevers that breed so 
freely in the swamps of Central Africa. 

The first feeders of the main line will, on account of 
geographical conditions, run in from the east coast. 
Already we have the Durban-Pretoria and Delagoa- 
Bay- Pretoria railways stretching towards the back- 
bone. Farther north is the Beira-Salisbury connec- 
tion. North of that again is projected a German line 
from Dar es Salaam to Ujiji on Tanganyika, with a 
branch to the Victoria Nyanza, to which English 
engineers have driven the now famous Uganda Rail- 
way. A short track from Berber to Suakin would 
place the Cape-to-Cairo in communication with the 
Red Sea. 

The Uganda Railway, running from the island of 
Mombasa to Port Florence on the Victoria Nyanza, 
is 580 miles long — that is, it covers a distance 50 miles 
greater than the journey from London to Aberdeen. 

Surveys for the line were begun in 1891 and 
completed by 1895. The following year operations 
commenced at Mombasa, which was connected with 

171 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

the mainland by a temporary bridge while the fine 
Salisbury Bridge was in course of construction. 

The road passes through hilly country that rises 
steadily for the first 360 miles, with occasional dips, to 
an elevation of 7800 feet. It then sinks nearly 2000 
feet into the Great Rift Valley, preparatory to a 
precipitous climb to Mau, 8300 feet above sea-level. 
Then follows a continuous drop of 4500 feet to the 
lake. 

The engineers were much troubled with labour 
questions. The country is sparsely inhabited, and 
the natives are among the laziest folk on the earth. 
Mr. Grogan says in this connection : '' The natives of 
the country, alas ! were skin and bone. A two years' 
drought had driven them through starvation to death 
by the thousand. I saw grown men and women 
scrambling for grains of rice that had accumulated on 
the filthy ground sheets or bare floor of the Indians' 
tents, and women carrying huge planks by a strap 
round the forehead in order to earn a handful of food 
from the two hulking coolies whose work it was . . . 
all because you can't get a day's work out of an 
African buck nigger even though he be starving." ^ 

As a result Indians had to be imported in large 
numbers. An army of 20,000 workers had to be fed, 
provided with water in an almost waterless country, 
and protected by stockades against man-eating lions 
which committed severe depredations among the 

1 **From the Cape to Cairo," p. 198. 
172 



Cairo to the Cape 



working parties. The presence of the dreaded tsetse 
fly, fatal to cattle and beasts of burden, necessitated 
the transport of material from railhead to advanced 
parties on men's backs — a very laborious and tedious 
process. Add to this the prevalence of fevers, 
"jiggers/' ulcers, and sores resulting from contact 
with the poisonous thornbush through which the 
pioneers had to cut their way for miles at a stretch, 
and risings and rebellions among the natives. 

There is but one tunnel on the line, at a point about 
50 miles from the lake terminus. But there are many 
bridges, some half a mile long and over 100 feet high. 
Gradients are heavy, especially in the Rift Valley, 
where some very clever engineering has carried the 
rail down the precipitous escarpment. 

The chief stations are Mombasa, Kilindini, Voi (100 
miles from Mombasa), Makindo (205), Nyrobi (345); 
and Nakuro (450). Nyrobi is the headquarters of the 
line, with workshops, engine-sheds, and administrative 
offices. 

On December 19, 1901, the first locomotive reached 
the lake, which is now 2\ days' journey from the 
coast. Over the old caravan route the time was 70 
days. The railway, which is of metre gauge, laid on 
iron and wooden sleepers, cost the Government 
;^5,2o6,ooo. In 1901 the rolling stock included 69 
locomotives, 150 passenger cars, and 850 goods 
waggons. 

Now that the road is completed, a great opening up 
of trade may be expected. Two steamers of 600 tons 

173 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

displacement are being conveyed in pieces to the lake, 
where they will be assembled, and initiate a regular 
service. The Victoria Nyanza, with its 500 odd 
miles of coastline, taps a huge area, the trade of which 
will naturally gravitate to the Uganda Railway, and 
make it, as first in the field, the established trade 
route. It is therefore expected that after the year 
1910 the railway will begin to give substantial returns 
in addition to paying its own way. Of its beneficial 
effect on the country there can be no possible doubt. 
Sir Harry Johnstone has instanced as a tangible proof 
of the pacific influence of the iron way, the fact that 
the erstwhile cattle-raiding, man-hunting Masai has 
consented to lay aside his murderous assegai for the 
navvy's pick. 

The southern section (Cape to Bulawayo) is ex- 
tremely up-to-date. After what we have read of 
railway travelling in South Africa during the late 
war, we may be inclined to regard it as a thing to be 
avoided. In cattle trucks it is so, no doubt. But if 
you choose to lay down fifteen guineas on the coun- 
ter, you may travel from Cape Town to Bulawayo in 
a train that will compare favourably with anything to 
be found in England or on the Continent. The train 
de luxe contains dining and sleeping cars, lounges, 
kitchens, pantries, lavatories, and bathrooms ; in fact, 
all the conveniences of modern life. 

Already an arrangement has been made with the 
Cape Government Railways under which circular 
tourist tickets, available for one month, will be issued 

174 




o 



^ 

^ 





















^ 
^ 

^ 



O 



2^ 



^ 



Cairo to the Cape 



for all stations on the Gape and Rhodesian railways. 
When the tourist begins to be considered, a country 
is pretty well advanced. The sportsman, too, will be 
provided for. He will be able to hire saloon carriages 
by the month, and travel whithersoever he wishes on 
the South African railway systems, keeping the saloon 
on a siding to act as headquarters for a shooting trip. 
For the sightseer the great magnet will be the Victoria 
Falls, eclipsing Niagara in their grandeur. The water- 
power running to waste will be harnessed in part 
before many years are out, and then we may expect 
to see an industrial town rising on the banks of the 
Zambesi, in which will be treated the copper, lead, 
zinc, and iron known to exist in vast deposits in Central 
Rhodesia, '' Victoria Falls '* will thus become one of 
the great stations on the Cape-to-Cairo line, and the 
centre of a civilisation eclipsing that which has left 
behind it many imposing ruins at Zambybwe and 
elsewhere. 

Side by side with the railway, but not entirely on 
the same route, another gigantic enterprise is being 
steadily pushed forward — the Trans-Continental Tele- 
graph. Work of this kind is not heralded by such a 
flourish of trumpets as is blown over plate-laying, but 
its difficulties are often comparable and, in many cases, 
even greater. 

Here again the genius of Cecil Rhodes has been the 
mainspring of action. He obtained the necessary 
permission from the German authorities to push the 
slim wire through their territory. The price was 

175 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

heavy — a separate line at his own cost between 
Rhodesia and British East Africa, to be owned and 
used exclusively by the German Government. 

The Rhodes section of the telegraph extends from 
Bulawayo to Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika, the present 
terminus. The following particulars of this great 
scheme have been kindly supplied to the writer by 
Mr. J. F. Jones, Joint Manager and Secretary of the 
British South Africa Company. 

At the annual meeting of the shareholders of the 
British South Africa Company in November 1892, 
Mr. Rhodes propounded his scheme for the construc- 
tion of a telegraph line to Egypt, and asked for 
assistance to enable him to extend the Company's 
existing line from its terminus at Salisbury to Zomba 
in Nyassaland, and thence vid the Lakes Nyassa and 
Tanganyika, the ultimate object being to connect 
with the terminus of the Egyptian Government 
system of telegraphs, thus placing Cape Town in 
through communication with Cairo and thence to 
England. Steps were at once taken towards the 
accomplishment of this design, and the African Trans- 
Continental Company, Limited, was incorporated on 
December 27, 1892. 

It was decided to build the Zomba-Salisbury por- 
tion from both ends simultaneously, meeting at Tete 
in Portuguese territory. The Mashona rising of 1896 
stopped the work on the Salisbury-Tete section, and 
when the country was pacified, it was found that the 
line had been practically destroyed. Mr. Rhodes, 

176 



Cairo to the Cape 



therefore decided to abandon the old route, and 
a much better and healthier one was discovered to 
Tete from Umtali (on the Salisbury-Beira line), 
passing over the high plateau of North-East Mashona- 
land. Whilst this line was being constructed the 
line north of Tete was steadily progressing towards 
Abercorn at the southern end of Lake Tanganyika, 
which was reached at the end of 1899. 

It was found that the most practicable route thence 
to the head of the lakes was on the eastern shore in 
German East Africa, and an agreement (referred to 
above) was entered into between Mr. Rhodes and the 
German Government, dated March 15, 1899, by which 
the African Trans-Continental Telegraph Company 
was permitted to construct the line through German 
territory. 

Notwithstanding the difficult nature of the country 
to be traversed, the great scarcity of labour, and in 
many parts of water, the work was proceeded with 
as fast as possible, and during the month of Sep- 
tember 1900, the line from Abercorn to Kituta (at the 
south end of Lake Tanganyika) was constructed and 
opened, and in the same month the construction from 
Kituta into German territory was commenced, the 
first German telegraph office being opened at Kasanga 
(now called Bismarkburg), a distance of 22^ miles 
from Kituta. 

The extension of the line has been continued to 
Ujiji, a distance of 300 miles from Bismarkburg. 
Beyond this point construction is for the moment 

177 M 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

suspended, awaiting developments in the Marconi 
system of wireless telegraphy, which it may be ex- 
pedient to adopt for certain portions of the route 
between Ujiji and Entebbe, owing to the very great 
constructional difficulties presented by the nature of 
the country lying to the north and east of Ujiji. 

In July 1898 the British South Africa Company 
took over the maintenance and working of the African 
Trans-Continental Telegraph Line, under an agree- 
ment with the Company, and the whole line is now 
under the supervision of the Postmaster-General of 
South Rhodesia. 

It is possible to send telegrams to any point within 
Rhodesia at the rate of id. a word ; to the Cape 
Colony, Natal, and Transvaal for 2d. a word; to 
European countries at 2s. 8d. a word. 

At present 4000 out of the 5600 miles between the 
Cape and Cairo have been covered by the wire. Of 
the difficulties encountered, Mr. E. S. Grogan says — 

^'The work of construction (he is here speaking 
particularly of the west coast of Lake Nyassa), has been 
attended with the greatest possible difficulties from the 
precipitous and densely wooded nature of the country, 
and the pestilential climate. These had, however, by 
superhuman efforts been overcome in the stipulated 
time by the handful of men engaged on the work. A 
wide track, straight as an arrow, up hill, down dale, 
across abyssmal chasms, and through swamps, had 
been cleared, and iron posts set in iron shoes sup- 
ported the wire. No one at home can realise the 

178 



Cairo to the Cape 



I 



stupendous difficulties that have been overcome. But 
I from observation know, and take off my hat in awed 
admiration of that gallant band who, quietly, relent- 
lessly, and without a murmur, have accomplished the 
seemingly impossible. It stands out in bold relief as a 
colossal monument of what the Anglo-Saxon can do."^ 
The general routine of construction was to send 
ahead of the main body a small party of surveyors 
to decide the path of the wires. Behind them, at 
a distance of anything up to 200 miles, followed an 
army of natives, marshalled by English engineers, 
who cut a broad path through jungle and forest, 
in the centre of which the posts are placed. Each 
pole is 20 feet long and in two sections, the top, 
of wrought iron, 15 feet 4 inches, gradually tapering, 
the lower a cast-iron driving base, 5 feet long, into 
which the top section fits. The poles are fixed in 
the ground by means of an iron plate and spike, 
and steadied by stay wires. It would, of course, 
be useless to employ wood or any material not im- 
pervious to the attacks of the white ant. The trans- 
port of the poles, which weigh 160 lbs. each, was a 
most difficult matter. Along with wire and other 
material they were shipped up the rivers in shallow 
draught boats to the farthest available point, and then 
carried by porters or beasts of burden to the scene 
of operations. In connection with the Tanganyika 
section, vessels were built in England and transferred 
to the lake in pieces, re-assembled, and loaded with 

^ **The Cape to Cairo," p. 72. 
179 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

material to accompany the march of the pioneers on 
the neighbouring shore. 

In spite of the breadth of the clearings the rate of 
vegetable growth requires constant vigilance on the 
part of the line-tenders to prevent ''short circuits." 
A regular system of patrolling has to be employed to 
combat the rank vegetation. In the section from 
Chiromo to Chikwav^a on the Shire River, through 
the track of swampy ground known as the ''Elephant's 
Marsh/' it is practically impossible to keep the grass 
in order, owing to the number of crocodiles with 
which the swamp is infested. The result is a great 
loss of current. 

Elephants cause considerable trouble by selecting 
the poles as their rubbing-posts. When a 4-ton animal 
leans against a frail iron post and begins to sway 
backwards and forwards, something is bound to go 
in spite of the wire stays. The line is now so well 
guarded, however, that any failure is quickly remedied. 

Curiously enough, very little annoyance has been 
given by the natives. At first, indeed, some of the 
tribes were inclined to pull down the wires, but a 
few powerful electric shocks inspired them with due 
respect: for the iron thread, which has now become 
"fetish," even in districts where wire is the chief 
form of currency, and therefore an object of general 

desire. 

One of the most serious blows to the expedition 
was the appearance of smallpox, which rages with 
great severity among the blacks. Panic-stricken, the 

180 



Cairo to the Cape 



porters threw down their loads by the wayside and 
made for the bush in hundreds. 

The rate of construction varied greatly according 
to the nature of the country. In some parts the line 
advanced 20 miles a week, but in others, especially 
along the shore of Lake Nyassa, where the engineers 
encountered a series of marshes and dense forests, 
progress was very slow. In the same region, owing 
to the mountainous character of the country, abnor- 
mally long lengths of wire have to be used to span 
the deep ravines. 

For the present, construction is at a standstill. 
Whether the wires will continue their northward 
march to meet the Egyptian line depends on the 
success of Mr. Marconi's system. The distance to 
be traversed is great — 1600 miles — and to flash mess- 
ages plant of great power will be required, the main- 
tenance of which may prove somewhat troublesome 
in the heart of Africa. Were Mr. Rhodes alive he 
would doubtless urge an all-metal connection for 
political reasons ; just as he championed an unbroken 
railway track from Cairo to the Cape. The English 
are essentially a practical nation, and both these great 
schemes will certainly be completed in the most 
practical manner, leaving sentiment on one side. 



181 



CHAPTER IX 

THE LOFTIEST RAILWAY IN THE WORLD 

^' Change here for Mont Blanc ! " 

What a ridiculous thing, the reader will say, to 
talk of a railway journey to the summit of Europe. 
Well, Mont Blanc is inviolate at present ; it is still 
a feat to reach the snowy top, and to win a head 
guide's diploma to show that you have attained the 
mountaineer's desire. 

But engineers are very persistent, and, acting on 
the principle that where man can make a path he 
can make a railway, have attacked Snowdon, and 
the Righi, and Pilatus, and the Jungfrau herself. It 
seems a daring thing to attempt a steel track to the 
topmost peak of one of the loftiest Alps, over which 
the tourist shall roll in comfort to altitudes hitherto 
attainable only by sweat of brow and the exercise of 
iron nerves. 

The days are fast passing when the ascent of the 
Jungfrau will be considered an achievement. For 
electric drills are busy at work in the mountain side 
scooping out a tunnel through the calcareous rock. 
The Jungfrau line, starting from Scheidegg, will bore 
its devious way upwards for 8 miles, until a point 
200 feet below the summit is reached. The track 

182 



The Loftiest Railway in the World 

will be almost entirely in tunnel. The motive force, 
electricity, is derived from two stations at Lauter- 
brunnen and Grindelwald, where water turbines, 
driven by mountain streams, yield an aggregate of 
nearly 5000 horse-power. Urged by powerful cur- 
rents the cars will slowly climb, unseen, to the limit 
platform, 14,000 feet above sea level. An electric lift 
will transport the tourist to the very summit, which 
commands one of the finest views in the world, in- 
cluding the Finsteraarhorn, the Weisshorn, Monte 
Rosa, &c. That science may wait upon pleasure, 
an observatory will be erected for meteorological ends 
on the crest of the Jungfrau. 

This is the latter-day style of mountaineering. The 
Mark Twain or Tartarin of another generation will 
be mainly occupied in chronicling a series of rail- 
way journeys. 

How many people know where to look for the 
highest railway in the world ? 

Not in Switzerland, nor in the Himalayas, where 
the Sibi and Darjeeling lines push far up towards 
the clouds ; nor in the Rockies, crossed by several 
marvels of engineering; nor yet in Mexico, a land 
of great elevations. No; go to Peru ! There you will 
find the loftiest lines hitherto laid by the engineer. 

Peru has two chief tracks. One from Callao on 
the coast to Oroya on the Montana or eastern slope 
of the Andes ; a second from Mollendo on the Pacific 
to Lake Titicaca, throwing off a branch northwards 
to S. Rosa, on the road to Cuzco. 

183 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Both these lines pass right over the Andes. The 
former has a total length of 140 miles, the latter of 
420 miles. Both are remarkable engineering feats, 
but if a comparison be instituted, the Oroya-Lima 
line easily bears off the palm. In about 100 miles 
it rises from sea-level to an altitude of 15,665 feet, 
or to about that of the summit of Mont Blanc. In a 
few hours the traveller is transported from tropical 
surroundings to the neighbourhood of eternal snow, 
where for a time he falls a prey to the soroche^ or 
mountain sickness. 

The line is the first section of a Trans-Continental 
route, partly by rail, partly by water over the tribu- 
taries and main stream of the Amazon. Between 
1868 and 1872 the Peruvians discovered a great store 
of wealth in the enormous deposits of guano on the 
islands off the coast. Huge fortunes were made. 
Money was eagerly borrowed by Peru, and lent by 
England and other countries, the greater part of 
which loans were spent in a lavish, almost reckless, 
manner upon harbours, piers, and railways. Fancy 
prices were paid for work, costly piers and docks 
were constructed, and railways were projected and 
carried out through mountainous and desert regions, 
the plans of which might well have struck dismay into 
the most courageous engineers and investors. 

The construction of the Oroya line was commenced 
in 1870 by Mr. Henry Meiggs, the well-known American 
railway contractor. From Callao to Oroya as the 
crow flies the distance is only 80 miles, but the line 

184 




Coasting by Hand-car on the Lima-Oroya Railway, Peru. 
The experience of rushing loo miles downhill at a stretch is possible on no other track. 

\To face p. 184. 



The Loftiest Railway in the World 

has a length of 140 miles owing to the multitudinous 
twistings and turnings, zigzags and tourniquets that 
distinguish its course. 

To its highest point — the Galera Tunnel — the rail- 
way follows the river Rimac, which it crosses re- 
peatedly. So steep and diiBficult is the country that 
in places the line runs in galleries cut in the face of 
precipices by men lowered from above in *^ boat- 
swain's chairs/' sailors proving especially useful. 

The rail crawls up the side of most awful chasms, 
every now and then plunging into the rocks, to 
emerge perhaps on to a bridge that spans the foam- 
ing Rimac, roaring seaward hundreds of feet below. 
Two of the most notable crossings are those of Ver- 
rugas and the Infernillo. The first is cleared by a 
bridge 575 feet long, in four spans, and is supported 
by iron towers, the central one of which is 252 feet 
in height. This viaduct, which contains 662^ tons 
of iron, was put together by runaway sailors accus- 
tomed to work at considerable heights. A temporary 
wooden staging was erected on the solid rock at each 
end of the viaduct, and two steel ropes were stretched 
across the valley between the towers. The various 
parts necessary for the erection of the piers were 
brought from Lima, hung on running tackle, and thus 
conveyed along the ropes to their destination. In 
spite of the difficult conditions under which the work 
had to be carried out, the total time occupied was 
but 48 days, a truly remarkable feat ! 

At the Infernillo, where the main stream breaks 

185 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

through two perpendicular walls of solid rock 1500 
feet high, the train crosses from wall to wall, out of 
the tunnel on one side into the tunnel on the other 
over a bridge 160 feet long, 165 feet above the seeth- 
ing waters. 

Many were the dangers to be encountered by the 
engineers and workmen. The work of triangulation 
for locating the course of tunnels and cuttings could 
often only be carried on from niches cut in the rock, 
to which the adventuresome engineer and his instru- 
ments were swung in baskets. Not less dreaded than 
the slippery cliffs was the Verrugas fever, that took 
heavy toll of the labourers. This disease is peculiar 
to the neighbourhood of the Verrugas stream, from 
which it gets its name. The patient is covered with 
large disfiguring warts, and often afflicted with them 
internally, in which case they usually prove fatal. 
It was reported that in one cutting alone no fewer 
than 700 died from this loathsome fever. 

The difficulty of getting material up to the railhead 
may be imagined. Roads there were none, except 
such as were specially cut out of the solid rock for 
the passage of mules. Frequently a detour of miles 
had to be made to reach a point but a few yards 
farther along the course of the railway. 

But in spite of almost incredible difficulties the 
engineers pushed on among the rocky fastnesses to 
the summit of the pass at Galera, whence the track 
falls away gradually to the terminus at Oroya. 

Travellers who have journeyed on this remarkable 

186 



The Loftiest Railway in the World 

line, and made friends with the engineers to the 
extent of securing a ^' coast" on a hand-car from 
Galera to the terminus at Callao, are one and all 
enthusiastic over their experience. Most of us have 
known the delights of flying down a hill on a cycle ; 
or perhaps we have tasted the more sudden joys of 
a switchback or water-chute at the Exhibitions. 

But a hundred-mile coast, unbroken, over steel 
rails, among most terrific precipices, through yawning 
tunnels, over giddy bridges at a speed that severely 
tries the nerves of the novice until he settles down 
to a fatalistic apathy, or, catching the infection of 
rapid motion, suggests a higher speed ! 

Mr. Gallenga, in his interesting book on South 
America, thus describes his sensations : — 

*^The hand-car, a light, small, and low railway 
truck, with two low-backed seats, and room for two 
in each, moving with the ease of a chariot in the 
so-called '* Montagnes-Russes," upon a gentle push 
from behind acquires, after a few yards' slope, a 
momentum of which it would be awful to foretell 
the consequences were it not for the breaks with 
which it is supplied like an engine, and by which 
the driver has power to pull up in a few seconds, 
and within a few yards of any point he may reach 
in his headlong career. But the driver himself, being 
human, delights in that entrancing rapidity of motion, 
and is soon almost unconsciously swayed by the fiery 
instincts of a racing horse. Away you go along this 
curve, away you tear round that corner, away you 

187 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

rush and dash from turning to turning, through 
this cutting and that tunnel, with your face barely 
one foot from the hard jagged rocks of the cutting 
on your right, and your knees barely one foot from 
the brink of the dizzy precipice on your left ; down 
you plunge into the pitch-dark tunnel, yourself with- 
out a light, without a " cow-catcher," without a bell 
or whistle to scare away the stray cattle that often 
run to it for shelter ; away you go, neck or nothing, 
till all your terrors are shaken from you, and you 
become a convert to the 'perfect safety' doctrine, 
or till, with a fatalist's sullen courage, you set your 
teeth hard, you fold your arms on your breast, and 
almost urge the driver to more speed, as if thinking 
that, if there is to be a smash, it may just as well be 
now as by-and-by." 

There are of course dangers in such a headlong 
rush. The curves are very sharp, and the inside 
rail is not sufficiently depressed to resist more than 
a certain amount of centrifugal force. Also rocks 
and stones often fall into the track, and at the sudden 
turns it is almost impossible to see an object a few 
yards ahead before the car has reached it. The 
ubiquitous dog, too, is found in the Andes, with 
its everlasting antipathy to things of swift motion ; 
sometimes he carries his hostility too far, and there 
is a collision — well if nothing serious results to any- 
thing except the dog. 

''This Oroya Railway is a very wonderful line 
indeed. It not only climbs higher than any other 

i88 



The Loftiest Railway in the World 

railway in the world, but . . . provides the only road 
in the world down which a man on wheels can travel 
for over one hundred miles by his own momentum, 
and practically at any pace to which the fiend of 
recklessness may urge him. . . . You start under 
the eye of the eternal snows, and you finish among 
humming birds and palms. You start sick with the 
unspeakable sickness of soroche^ and you finish in the 
ecstasy of an exultation too great for words." ^ 

On the Darjeeling railway the would-be scorcher 
may experience the same delights for a more limited 
period, and on the great divide of the Trans- 
American lines. 

^ Lord Ernest Hamilton in Pearson^ s Magazine, 



189 



CHAPTER X 

CITY RAILWAYS 

Among the problems that perplex the civic authorities 
of the world's great cities, none is more difficult of 
solution than that which arises from the increasing 
congestion of traffic in the main thoroughfares. 

In every large town vehicular traffic is confined 
to a comparatively few routes. As the town grows, 
the streets, which do not expand their width in pro- 
portion, become less and less adequate to pass the 
thousands of vehicles that crowd into them. 

Nowhere has the congestion become more serious 
than in London, where the sight of huge strings of 
omnibuses, cabs, and carts, brought to a standstill by 
a ^' block," is too common to cause much comment. 
Travel through London streets is notoriously slow, 
and the delay, besides being vexatious to the in- 
dividual, has been calculated to cost the community 
several million pounds sterling per annum. The 
difficulty of moving swiftly from point to point has 
a further bad influence as being productive of over- 
crowding, since the poorer classes of workers are 
prevented from living at a reasonable distance from 
the scene of their daily toil. 

Patent as are the needs for freer communication 

190 



City Railways 



between the centre and suburbs of large cities, the 
means of meeting them are restricted. Old towns, 
where the congestion is most acute, are often cursed 
with narrow streets, the widening of which would be 
ruinously expensive. Electric trams, by monopolis- 
ing the roadway would, in many cases, practically 
block all other vehicular traffic, and cause great in- 
convenience until such time as competition in fares 
has driven other public vehicles off the road. 

It also happens that in great commercial centres, 
such as London and New York, a large area is given 
up almost exclusively to offices, which at night are 
deserted, but must be filled rapidly each morning, 
and emptied as rapidly in the evening. Thus, to 
take the City of London proper, although but a 
square mile in area, with a day population of about 
300,000, and a night population of perhaps 30,000, 
in a single day more than 1,250,000 persons and 
100,000 vehicles enter and leave the limits. 

Vehicular traffic on the surface can be eased only 
by providing more or wider streets, or by removing 
the necessity for the existence of a large proportion 
of the vehicles. The object of modern systems of 
communication is to replace the thousands of in- 
dependent vehicles that block our streets by some 
ordered arrangement of transport, running at regular 
intervals on its private tracks, out of the way of 
ordinary traffic. 

Two main methods may be distinguished : the 
elevated railway, which is carried aloft over the streets, 

191 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

and the subterranean railway that runs under the 
streets. In both cases the prime object is to keep 
as near the main routes as possible. 

The States are the home of the Elevated Railway. 
The first was built in New York in 1870 on a single 
row of columns. By 1878 there were four such lines, 
parallel, in New York; and since that date similar 
tracks have been laid in Boston, Chicago, Berlin, and 
Liverpool. Railways of this type are especially 
suitable where the traffic is light and the con- 
struction of the line does not injure neighbouring 
property. 

For really heavy traffic, or where a line must be built 
at any cost, the engineer resorts to the underground 
railway. 

This may take one of three forms. It may be just 
under the street, separated from surface traffic by but 
a foot or two of steel girders and cement, as in the 
Buda-Pesth and New York Rapid Transit Railways. 
The latter has four tracks abreast in as many tunnels, 
the inner pair for fast, the outer pair for local, traffic. 
These lines, as easily accessible from the street, are 
very convenient when made ; but their construction 
entails the pulling up of the roadway, the displace- 
ment of water, gas, and sewerage pipes, with all the 
attendant drawbacks. 

The second type is illustrated by the London Metro- 
politan and District Railways, constructed by '' cut 
and cover,'' and shallow tunnels at such a depth (30 
to 40 feet below the road level) as to obviate the 

192 



City Railways 



necessity of lifts, though deep enough to be 
inconvenient. 

The third and most modern type is the electrically 
worked deep level ''tube/' driven 40 to 120 feet 
below the roadway. Such a line is economical to 
build, as it entails no interference with existing 
structures, but has the disadvantages arising from the 
constant employment of lifts for the transport of 
passengers to and from the surface. 

For London needs, however, the tube is particularly 
suitable. The " Inner Circle,'' completed in 1884, is 
most useful as furnishing a connecting link between 
most of the London termini of the great lines. But 
for the " City man " hastening to business it leaves 
much to be desired, since it skirts the area in which 
his business lies, and often drives him eventually to 
the cab or omnibus. 

London's crying need is for radial lines, to intersect 
the area enclosed by the Inner Circle from east to 
west and north to south, and extend into the suburbs. 

Already three '' tubes " are in operation — the Central 
London, from Shepherd's Bush to the Bank ; the 
Waterloo and City ; and the Stockwell-Monument. 
Others are in course of construction, from Baker 
Street vid Charing Cross to Waterloo, and from the 
City to Finsbury. In addition, powers have been 
granted for new railways between Brompton and 
Piccadilly ; Charing Cross, Euston, and Hampstead ; 
Brixton and the City ; the Marble Arch and Crickle- 
wood. A few years hence there is every prospect of 

193 N 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

the clay on which London stands being honeycombed 
by ''tubes/' 

From the tube to the teredo or ship-worm is a far 
cry, yet there is an interesting connection between 
them. Sir Isambard Brunei, the famous builder of 
the first Thames Tunnel, employed a shield to pierce 
the soft ground under the river. It is said that he 
derived his idea of a shield from observation of the 
ship-worm, which digs its way into wood by means of 
a boring apparatus in its head, and as it advances lines 
the hole behind it with a secretion thrown out from 
its body. Taking the hint from Nature he patented in 
1818 a device, consisting of an iron cylinder furnished 
at its front end with an augur-like cutter. As the 
cylinder advanced the hole behind was to be lined 
with a spiral sheet-iron plating, faced on the interior 
with masonry. 

Brunei's crude idea has been immensely improved 
upon by himself, Mr. Peter W. Barlow, and Mr. J. H. 
Greathead, who has given his name to the shield 
employed on the London tubes. 

The Greathead shield consists of three parts, the 
front, the body, and the tail. The shield is perfectly 
circular and cylindrical, and is built up of steel plates 
riveted together with countersunk rivets so as to give 
an absolutely smooth surface on the outside. To 
stiffen the cylinder a diaphragm or bulkhead, in which 
is cut a hole for working through, is fixed transversely. 
The front end .extends forward from the diaphragm 
to the cutting-edge, which is formed of a strong cast- 

194 



City Railways 

iron ring divided in halves, on which are secured steel 
knives made in short segments and formiag a true 
circular cutting-edge. The knives are arranged in 
such a manner that if necessary they can be adjusted 
to cut a hole slightly larger than the shield. 

At the back of the bulkhead comes the body, in 
which are located the jacks, pumps, and motors for 
manipulating the shield. At the back end is a power- 
ful cast-iron ring, to which are attached, at regular 
intervals round the circumference, the hydraulic rams 
for forcing the shield forward. The united power 
of these hydraulic jacks is immense, as even in stiff 
and stable clays, where the friction is at a minimum, 
a pressure of 4 or 5 tons for every square yard of 
the external surface of the shield is required, and in 
sticky material the power must be increased to 18 
or 24 tons per square yard of exterior shell. Each 
jack can be used independently of the rest, and by 
suitable combinations the course of the shield is steered 
to a nicety. 

The tail of the shield serves to support the earth 
while the lining is being placed. For this reason its 
diameter is such as just to clear the outside of the 
lining, which is added inside it. 

The details of the shield vary with the nature of the 
stratum penetrated. In very stable material, where 
caving and water inroads are unlikely, the diaphragm 
may be omitted ; while in treacherous water-logged 
materials, such as were encountered in the bed of the 
Mersey (see page 73) and Thames during the driving 

195 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

of the Waterloo-Baker Street tunnels, means must be 
provided for closing the shield entirely and converting 
the front end into an air-tight chamber accessible 
through air-locks. 

After this short description of the boring apparatus, 
we will turn our attention to the sphere of its operations. 

The City and South London Railway, extending 
under the Thames from the Monument to Stockwell, 
a distance of 3J miles, was begun in 1886 by Great- 
head. Its promoters originally intended to operate 
it by an endless cable, but during its construction 
electric traction developed sufficiently to be applied 
to this first of tube railways. The tunnels, running 
parallel, are 10 feet 2 inches in diameter. 

The Waterloo-City tube was next constructed, and 
in 1896 the engineers commenced the most important 
of the lines at present open, the Central London 
Railway. 

The construction of the ''tube" is very unostenta- 
tious and attracts little attention. All the public sees 
is a series of enclosures surrounded with hoardings, 
in and out of which carts pass laden with earth or 
strangely-shaped masses of iron. A steam crane or 
two tells of work in progress, but there is little for the 
inquisitive passer-by to watch. 

The scene of active operations is far down below 
his feet, where shields are steadily eating their way 
through the stiff London clay. 

Excavation proceeds^ from several points simul- 

^ The Central London Railway is taken as typical. 
196 




►Ci 


o 


?^ 




Cq 


VJ 


^ 


s 


•'S. 


;=^ 


r 


-K^ 




VJ 


CI 




•^ 


o 


^ 


O 




V. 


•~ 


O' 


oo 






<;i 




C/5 




J^ 












o 




o 












•<?^ 












^ 




>C5 












t^ 




^ 




"^ 




^ 








•+-i 




"C/) 












•~^ 












o 




,^ 




CO 




^ 








^ 








^ 



^ 



'Si 



'^i 
O 



^ 



^ Cq 






I- 

•Si 



City Railways 



taneously. At the site of each station a shaft is sunk, 
and Hned with cast-iron segments, bolted together. 
As soon as the shaft is completed temporary cages 
are provided for bringing up the excavated material. 
A chamber is then cut out in which the smaller shield 
for driving the track tunnels is erected. Its diameter 
is 12 feet 8 inches. Several rings of lining, each 20 
inches long, are placed, and the shield adjusted so 
that its six rams get a push-off from the most advanced 
of them. Water power is then applied, and the shield 
moves forward through the clay which has been 
partially removed in advance. Taps are turned on, 
and the rams retire into their cylinders, making way 
for the next ring, which in turn takes the pressure off 
the rams. The annular space left outside the lining 
by the tail of the shield is now filled in with liquid 
cement, squirted through holes in the lining under 
pneumatic pressure. The rate of progress varies from 
two to four rings every ten-hour shift. 

For removing the clay an ingenious form of electric 
excavator was used on several sections of the tunnel- 
ling. The machine is a dredger ladder, the working 
end of which can be moved vertically, horizontally, 
and longitudinally. Thirty-seven buckets on an end- 
less chain scrape the working face, and carry the 
spoil back into the small waggons that roll under the 
rear end of the machine. It was found that this con- 
trivance removed so much of the face that the shield 
could cut away the remainder, so obviating the need 
of hand-picking. As soon as the men came to 

197 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

thoroughly understand it, the rate of advance in- 
creased rapidly, and eventually four rings were placed 
in the shift. With the machine only six men were 
required at the face ; without it, fourteen. 

For clearing the stations a large shield, 22 feet 10 
inches diameter, was used, driven by twenty-two 
hydraulic rams. The stations are 325 feet long. The 
iron segments are filled in with cement and lined with 
white glazed tiles, which materially aid the illumina- 
tion of the platforms. 

The tunnels as a rule run side by side, but in one or 
two places, e,g, at Newgate Street and Notting Hill 
Gate, where the roadway is narrow (and the line must 
keep under the road), the tunnels curve upwards and 
downwards until they pass one over the other. 

The depth of the line varies considerably. At the 
Bank the metals lie 60 feet below the surface, at 
Oxford Circus 80 feet, at Notting Hill 92 feet. The 
engineers have arranged the stations on the summit 
of gradients, which assist the train to stop, and also to 
start. On leaving a station the tunnel drops at a 
gradient of i in 30 for 300 feet, and when approaching 
rises i in 60 for about 600 feet ; so that the stations 
stand about 10 feet above the general level of the 
line. 

The most difficult part of the construction was at 
the Bank Station, where a regular network of subways 
cuts the existing gas and water pipes. The station 
space here is entirely underground, a few feet below 
the surface. But the station, lift-shafts, &c., were 

198 



City Railways 



made without in any way disturbing the traffic over- 
head. 

The Central London Railway was opened on July 
29; 1900. It cost ;^3, 500,000. The engineers were 
Sir John Fowler, Sir Benjamin Baker, and Mr Basil 
Mott. The need for its construction is proved by the 
passenger returns, which in 1901 showed 41,188,389 
tickets taken. Two objections have been raised to 
the '' Tube " — the vibration, which seriously annoys 
the occupants of houses on the route, and bad ventila- 
tion. The first could be largely removed by the 
employment of what is known as the multiple-unit 
system of traction, in which every car or group of 
two cars is furnished with its own motors, and may 
be cut off from the rest of the train. The displace- 
ment of the heavy pounding locomotive by motors 
distributed among the cars will not only lessen the 
vibration, but render the handling of traffic much 
more elastic. Trains can be lengthened or shortened 
according to the varying requirements of traffic at 
different times of day. In America the multiple-unit 
system is generally used on about 3000 cars, aggregat- 
ing 375,000 horse power. Mr. Frank J. Sprague, 
whose name is so well known in connection with 
electrically operated rails, says : ^ — 

'* The ideal service, so far as the passenger alone is 
concerned, would be by single cars operated at high 
speeds, and following each other at the shortest pos- 

^ The Engineering Magazine y October 190 1. 

199 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

sible intervals. The conditions of tunnel service, 
however, and the heavy character of the traffic at 
certain hours prohibit this ideal condition. So there 
must be, to get the most practical results, an expa*^- 
sion of the car into a train varying in length according 
to the time of day, and a lengthening of intervals to 
meet the requirements of operation at high speed. . . . 
Such a system readily lends itself to every condition 
of congested service. The similarity of equipment 
insures flexibility of train operation, and provides a 
motive power proportioned to the requirements." 

Briefly put, '' one car one motor " appears, as a 
principle, better adapted to the requirements of rapid 
travel between frequent stations than, *' one train one 
locomotive." Two main steam lines, the North- 
Eastern and South- Western, have recognised the ex- 
pediency, and placed single motor-coaches on their 
metals to run at short intervals between the regular 
train service. In course of time we shall see the 
Metropolitan and District Railway electrified, and 
also some of the suburban lines. In fact, it is not 
over bold to prophesy that the competition of tubes 
and trams will drive all local and suburban lines to 
the electric current, with its far greater range of train 
load than is possible economically with the steam 
locomotive. To quote Mr. Sprague again: ^^The 
electric railway has become a modern necessity, and 
the greatest of philanthropic agents. It is a distri- 
butor of the masses, and the most effective agent in 
solving the housing problems of the metropolis. 

200 



City Railways 

Every minute taken from the time of transit to and 
from business is a minute added to the fireside and 
home. Every increase of speed adds to available 
dwelling space, increases taxable areas, augments 
traffic, and betters the morale of the people. The 
days of doubt and hesitation have long passed. 
Within thirteen years, in the United States alone, 
electricity has been adopted on more miles of street, 
elevated and suburban track, replacing horse, cable, 
and steam equipments, than there are miles of steam 
railway in Great Britain. It needs but a practical 
survey of all that has been accomplished in this con- 
nection to realise the immense benefits possible by an 
intelligent adoption of electric propulsion." 

The Baker Street-Waterloo line, in course of con- 
struction, will be of an importance second only to 
that of the Central London, as it affords the much- 
needed link from north to south along the route 
between Regent's Park and Charing Cross, which is 
at present served only by omnibuses. The extension 
to the south side of the Thames will also prove most 
convenient. This line, which commences at Baker 
Street, where it picks up passengers from the St. 
John's Wood branch, passes along the north side of 
the Metropolitan to the north end of Portland Place, 
under which it runs to Oxford Circus. Here pas- 
sengers will change on to the Central London. The 
line then follows Regent Street to Piccadilly Circus, 
and doubles down the Haymarket to the east side of 
Trafalgar Square, passing close to Nelson's Column ; 

20I 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

then under Northumberland Avenue to the Thames, 
beneath which it passes a little west of Charing Cross 
Bridge. As an engineering feat, this line has proved 
more difficult than the Central London, on account 
of the several curves and the passage of the Thames. 

The first constructional work on the line was con- 
ducted from a stage built on the north of the Thames. 
Two vertical shafts were sunk into the bed, and from 
them parallel tunnels driven to meet borings working 
southwards from Piccadilly Circus. In spite of the 
curvature of the route, the tunnels met so accurately 
that an error could scarcely be detected. The fre- 
quency with which this feat is performed shows that 
tunnel-ranging has become a very exact science. As 
on the Central London, the gauge is standard, viz. 
4 feet 8^ inches, and the tunnels have an equal dia- 
meter, II feet 6 inches. It is expected that the line 
will be opened for regular traffic in 1904. Eventually 
it will extend to Bishop's Road, Paddington, and so 
place the Great Western Railway in direct communi- 
cation with the South- Western vzd the West End. 

Future tube railways will have a larger diameter 
than that of the existing systems. Expert opinion 
suggests 13I feet as affording better ventilation, facili- 
tating repairs, and minimising the effects of an acci- 
dent. The Great Northern and City tube is 16 feet 
in diameter, to accommodate the steam railways' 
ordinary rolling stock. It may be regretted that 
this size was not adopted as the standard for all the 
tubes. 

202 



City Railways 



If the various companies will only work in part- 
nership and organise the various systems into 
an harmonious whole, London should in a few 
years' time be one of the best served cities in the 
world. 



203 



CHAPTER XI 

THE SEVERN TUNNEL 

** The Severn Tunnel, which is a little over four miles in length, is by 
far the most important subaqueous work yet accomplished." — Mr. J. E. 
TUIT in ** The Tower Bridge." 

In the West of England the broad Severn estuary 
offers a serious obstruction to traffic between South 
Wales and the south-west counties — Cornwall, Devon, 
Somerset, and Dorset. At Weston-super-Mare the 
channel, still several miles broad, makes a sudden 
turn in a north-east direction to a point some distance 
beyond Gloucester, thus forming a natural obstacle 
on the southerly flank of Wales across the main roads 
from the thickly-populated coal-fields of Wales to the 
great Metropolis. Thomas Telford, a hundred years 
ago, linked up the turnpike road at Gloucester by a 
bridge of 150 feet span, so that coaches might travel 
unimpeded ; and in 1879 was completed an iron 
bridge three-quarters of a mile long, which crosses 
the Severn 26 miles below Gloucester, enabling the 
Midland line to Bristol to tap the coal-fields of the 
Forest of Dean, and putting the Great Western also 
in more direct communication with the same district. 

Owing to the configuration of the country in the 
Stroud Valley, the branch of the Great Western that 

204 



The Severn Tunnel 

passes through it towards Gloucester is characterised 
by very severe gradients and sharp curves, that de- 
tract seriously from speed while adding considerably 
to the cost of haulage. 

To avoid this route became the policy of the enter- 
prising Directors of the Great Western. They con- 
structed a single line from Bristol to New Passage, a 
point a few miles above Portishead and the Avon- 
mouth Docks. On the opposite bank the South 
Wales Railway terminated near Portskewett, a small 
agricultural parish. On each bank a large jetty was 
thrown out, and a steam-ferry supplied a means of 
transporting goods and passengers across the Severn. 
This, however, was far from satisfactory. The Severn, 
by presenting a funnel-shaped cul-de-sac to the strong 
tide running in from the Atlantic, is subjected at 
spring tides to a rise of 50 feet, rivalling in height that 
of the Bay of Fundy, and surpassing anything to be 
witnessed elsewhere in England or on the Continent. 
The strong currents resulting from the sudden rise 
and fall of the river produce a continual shifting of 
the sandbanks most prejudicial to navigation, and 
render the embarkation at pierheads a troublesome 
proceeding. 

The Great Western Directors therefore thought it 
would be to the Company's interests to incur a further 
expense to avoid '^ breaking bulk " and transhipping 
passengers. The bold project was set on foot of 
driving a tunnel under the bed of the Severn, from 
New Passage to Portskewett, where the river is more 

205 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

than 2 miles wide. The lowest point of the tunnel 
must necessarily be under the deepest part of the 
channel, and unfortunately that point was within a 
few furlongs of the Welsh bank, where the currents 
have eaten out a depression known as " The Shoots " 
to a depth of some 50 feet below the general level of 
the bed. So that though the New Passage end of the 
tunnel would be only 700 yards from the river edge, 
the Portskewett face would be if miles inland, in 
order to preserve an easy gradient of i in 100 ; and 
at each end it would be necessary to make large cut- 
tings of a maximum depth of 80 to 90 feet — the tunnel 
itself to have a total length of 4J miles. 

In November 1871 Mr. Charles Richardson de- 
posited plans for the tunnel in Parliament, and in 
the following year an Act was passed for its con- 
struction. 

The Great Western Railway Company at once set 
to work, after obtaining the services of Sir John 
Hawkshaw as consulting engineer. Sir John had 
already gained valuable experience of tunnelling in 
the completion of the East London Railway from 
Brunei's Thames Tunnel under the London Docks 
through Wapping, Shadwell, and Whitechapel — a 
work of extreme difficulty. 

A start was made in 1873 by sinking a shaft — after- 
wards known as the Old Shaft — 15 feet in diameter 
and 200 feet deep, on the Monmouthshire side, and 
lining it with brick. From the bottom of the shaft a 
heading, or horizontal excavation, was made river- 

206 



The Severn Tunnel 

wards in the line of the tunnel, to act as a drain that 
should tap the tunnel at its lowest point under '* The 
Shoots." It had an upward gradient of i in 500, and 
in section was 7 feet square. 

Matters progressed so slowly, however, through 
want of a sufficient staff, that by the latter half of 
1877, or after four and a half years' work, the Com- 
pany, who were carrying on the excavations, decided 
to ask for tenders for the completion of the whole 
work. Three estimates were sent in, one by Mr. T. 
A. Walker, who afterwards took so important a part 
in the construction of the tunnel. • But the estimates 
being considered excessive, the Company decided to 
continue a heading right under the river, in order to 
ascertain the nature of the strata to be pierced before 
going to the contractors. Small contracts were, 
however, let for the sinking of one shaft on the 
Gloucester side, and two on the Welsh side, known 
as the Marsh and Hill Shafts ; and for the driving of 
horizontal headings both ways from the bottoms of 
the shafts. 

The Company then completed a second shaft for 
pumping near Old Shaft, and lined it with iron to 
within a few feet from the bottom, where it was con- 
nected to its neighbour by a short tunnel closed at 
the Iron Shaft end by a small trap-door. 

On October 18, 1879, an incident took place which 
marked the date as a black day in the history 
of the tunnel. In order that the reader may under- 
stand clearly what follows, it will be necessary to 

207 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

explain that 40 feet above the drain-heading running 
under the river from the bottom of Old Shaft, head- 
ings were being broken in both directions from the 
same shaft for the traffic tunnel, which at this spot 
would have risen some distance above its lowest 
point. Men were working in the western heading, 
when suddenly a large body of water was tapped, and 
after valiant, but vain, efforts to stem the tide, the 
excavators had to fly for their lives. The water, 
leaping from the heading-face a sheer 40 feet to the 
bottom of Old Shaft, began to fill up the long sub- 
river heading, and the men there would have had all 
means of flight cut off but for the cross tunnel to the 
Iron Pit, through which they escaped. 

In twenty-four hours' time the whole of the work- 
ings in connection with Old Pit — that is to say, by 
far the largest portion of the excavations — were full 
to tide level, and the result of seven years' labour ap- 
peared a melancholy failure. Hitherto the general 
opinion had been that danger from water — that un- 
tiring, wakeful foe of the tunnel-driver — was to be 
apprehended while piercing the strata below the river. 
But inasmuch as the water that had burst in was 
fresh and sweet, it became evident that the engineers 
had to reckon with some subterranean supply fed by 
the neighbouring hills. 

The Directors decided on drastic measures. They 
appointed Sir John Hawkshaw engineer -in -chief, 
giving him powers to place a contract with some one 
whom he might consider to be a fit person to carry 

208 



The Severn Tunnel 

out the work. He selected Mn T. A. Walker. This 
gentleman had already won his spurs as a railway 
surveyor and contractor in Canada, Russia, and 
Egypt ; and under Sir John had completed the East 
London Railway extension referred to above. He 
now made a contract to finish the tunnel, cuttings, 
and approaches, a total length of 8 miles 26 chains ; 
the tunnel to carry a double line of rails, and be 
24 feet high inside from top of arch to lowest point 
of invert, with a maximum width of 26 feet at the 
spring of the arch. 

In signing the agreement he entered upon an 
undertaking not to be matched in engineering, unless, 
perhaps, we except the driving of the Kilsby tunnel 
by Robert Stephenson. A digression for a few lines 
will be excusable, in order to remind the reader of 
Stephenson's famous feat. When the North- Western 
Railway was in course of construction, the promoters 
proposed to carry it through Nottingham. But the 
Nottinghamians would have none of the new-fangled 
iron horse, and a detour must be made through the 
hills near Rugby. Stephenson faced the gigantic task 
of cutting a tunnel ij mile long, after he had, by 
means of trial shafts, ascertained, as he thought, the 
exact nature of the strata to be encountered, A con- 
tract was let to build the tunnel for ;^99,ooo. Before 
work had proceeded far the unfortunate contractor 
ran against a large, water-logged quicksand. He died 
soon afterwards, heart-broken, though the Company 
generously waived the terms of the contract. Robert 

209 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Stephenson stepped into the breach, declaring that 
he was quite able to master the quicksand, by the 
simple, even if expensive, method of pumping it dry. 
The pumps threw out water ceaselessly for nine 
months at the rate of 1600 gallons a minute, but with- 
out any apparent benefit, until the patience of the 
Directors gave way. They said that to go on fling- 
ing good money after bad would be madness. '^ Give 
me another fortnight," replied Stephenson, ''and if by 
the end of that time matters are as bad as ever, we 
must abandon the tunnel/' 

We may imagine the anxiety with which the work 
was watched. Every hour measurements were taken 
of the water flowing to the pumps. The end of the 
fortnight came perilously near, and still no improve- 
ment. How poor Stephenson must have despaired 
inwardly while keeping a brave front to his men ! 
How deep must have been his feelings of gratitude 
and triumph when at the eleventh hour the word 
went round that the water was not gaining ! The 
quicksand was almost dry, the tunnel was saved, and 
completed at a cost of ;£3oo,ooo. 

Mr. Walker at once set about erecting pumps to 
battle with the Great Spring, as it came to be called, 
and to clear the flooded workings. Before these 
could be emptied it was necessary to block the head- 
ing into which the spring had broken at its opening 
from the Old Pit. Accordingly two shields were 
made of the same curvature as the shaft, sufficiently 
ample to cover the mouths of the headings on either 

210 



The Severn Tunnel 

side. Unfortunately the depth of water from the 
surface to the headings — 140 feet — produced so great 
a pressure that divers could not work in it, and it 
became necessary to lower the water 50 feet to reduce 
the strain. Great trouble was experienced with the 
pumps, which gave way first in one part of their 
mechanism, then in another ; but in spite of these 
untoward incidents the shields were fixed by the 24th 
January 1880, and made water-tight in a few days 
more. The Great Spring had now been cut off, but 
water still leaked in at the bottom of the Iron Pit in 
greater quantities than the working pumps could cope 
with, and there was nothing to be done but wait for 
the arrival of additional pumps. A new 18-foot shaft 
was put in hand close to the Old Shaft and over the 
line of the tunnel, to act as a pumping-pit. 

At last a long-expected pump of large capacity 
arrived and was fitted in the Iron Pit, which had 
been cleared to within a few feet of the bottom when 
the pump burst with terrific violence, and in an 
hour or two the shaft was full again. The pump 
was repaired and replaced by October 14. On that 
day, at 11 A.M., began the final struggle with the 
water. 

In twenty-four hours the water had been lowered 
121 feet, enabling a damaged pump to be repaired and 
brought into action. These two pumps being able to 
do no more than ^' hold " the water that came in from 
the long sub-river heading, Mr. Walker determined to 
close, if possible, a door in a head-wall that had been 

211 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

built across the heading at a point looo feet from the 
bottom of Old Shaft. 

The task was one for a diver, and a brave diver too. 
To say nothing of the 30-foot head of water giving a 
pressure of 13 lbs. to the square inch, he must walk 
up the heading, drawing 1000 feet of hose after him, 
go through the wall door, close the flap of one sluice, 
return through the door, make it fast, and screw down 
a 12-inch sluice in the other side of the wall. A 
diver named Lambert undertook the job. Three 
other divers accompanied him part way to help pass 
the air-hose, the friction of which against the roof of 
the heading would have been too great for his tractive 
powers. 

He set out on his dangerous expedition armed with 
a short crowbar, and groped his way in darkness over 
the debris — skips, tools, lumps of rock — until within 
100 feet of the door, when the weight of hose pre- 
vented farther progress, and he was obliged to retrace 
his steps. Two days afterwards Lambert made a 
second attempt, wearing a Fleuss dress — which re- 
places the air-hose connection by a cylinder of oxy- 
gen carried on the diver's back — but remained under 
water only half-an-hour. A third attempt was more 
successful ; Lambert reached the door, but did not 
close it. The fourth trial, which lasted eighty minutes, 
resulted in the closing of the door and sluices. With 
great anxiety the floats that told the level were watched 
after pumping recommenced, but to the disappoint- 
ment of all the subsidence amounted at the most to 

212 



t- i 



•a. 



ijNhjni JO 3JVj yjis jy/7070 



•JOOd. NOMIVS 3Hj. -*, 



o 



< 

O 
-J 



Or 

CO 

o 






fill 



IVSyb 3h3HM XMIOd 



,CQ 



2| 



'I, 



»JOi</ ■SM^WOTO 3HJ. 



\n 



see/ ijoii V3S xs 
a 30001 J lid w(vw 



Najaa3N tjjurh ■*■ 



I 

""I 

I 
§ffl 



c/5 



"^ 



CO 



nimm io ^ivj sr7VM-J 



The Severn Tunnel 

3 inches an hour, and at high tide to nothing at all. 
By the 7th December, however, the use of additional 
pumps had cleared the Iron Pit, and the foreman was 
able to reach the cross-wall to which Lambert had 
made his venturesome and perilous expedition. It 
was then discovered that the screw-down valve tra- 
versing the wall had a left-handed screw, so that 
Lambert, while closing it down, as he thought, was 
in reality opening it to its full extent. But for this 
mechanical vagary the work of pumping would have 
been a simple matter after the door was closed. 

The next thing to do was to tackle the western 
heading into which the Great Spring had burst. The 
door in the shield at its pit end being opened, the 
engineers explored the scene of the inrush. A great 
quantity of matter had been washed in by the water, 
partially blocking the heading, and it was therefore 
decided to keep out the water by building a wall 
across the heading at a point where the ground 
appeared firm. This work reached completion in 
January 1881. For two years the Spring gave no 
more trouble. 

The year 1881 was marked by three notable inci- 
dents. First came the great snowstorm, still notorious, 
that worked havoc throughout the British Isles. It 
cut off communication between the tunnel and the 
outside world, reducing the contractors to all sorts of 
shifts to supply their pumping-engines with steam, in 
the absence of a regular supply of coal from South 
Wales. 

213 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

In May a strike broke out among the workmen, 
which for a few days brought the works to a com- 
plete standstill, but ended in the men returning to 
work as before. 

A month previously the sea had found an entrance 
into the Gloucester sub-river heading from a shallow 
reach called the ^'Salmon Pool/' Fortunately for 
the fate of the tunnel the long heading from the 
Sudbrook or Portskewett side had not quite joined 
that from the Gloucester bank, otherwise the water 
would have poured across to the bottom of Old Pit, 
scouring the whole of the long heading with dis- 
astrous effect. At low water Mr. Walker made a 
number of men join hands and wade into the Salmon 
Pool, until the sudden disappearance of one of them 
for a moment betrayed the whereabouts of the inlet. 
A schooner-load of clay dumped overboard at the 
spot checked further leakage. 

The remaining months of 1881 and 1882 passed 
without any serious accidents to delay the work, which 
proceeded apace. The method employed in making 
the tunnel was to securely timber the headings — 
driven at what was to be the bottom level of the 
completed work — and from them to ''break up" at 
intervals to the level of the crown of the arch. Each 
break-up, timbered in turn, became the ' end of a 
top heading, 6 feet high by 5 or 6 feet wide, runnmg 
a few feet above the lower heading for a distance 
decided by the nature of the ground, technically 
known as a ''length." The top heading finished, a 

214 



The Severn Tunnel 

groove is cut along the top of each side wall to 
receive a balk 12 or more inches in diameter of the 
same length as the " length " itself. Vertical grooves 
are then cut in the sides, and into these are inserted 
props to support the longitudinal balks. The excava- 
tors then dig into the sides farther, and cut two more 
horizontal grooves rather farther from the axis of 
the tunnel, but lower than the first two '' crown-bars." 
Into these a second pair of crown-bars is rolled and 
similarly secured by uprights ; and the operation is 
continued until the top heading has been widened 
into the outHne of the tunnel arch* The floor has 
now to be cut away, and a support provided for all 
the props at the ends of the crown-bars. A deep 
groove is therefore sunk across the heading to a point 
a little lower than the inferior ends of the props, and 
a massive beam, 12 to 15 inches square, let into it. 
A second set of props is then wedged between the 
'^ sills," as the cross-beams are called, and the crown 
bars. 

The lower heading is then widened and sills fixed 
top and bottom, separated by tightly-jammed props ; 
and then, the matter between the two headings being 
removed, a middle tier of props set between the 
bottom sill of the top heading and the top sill of 
the lower heading. 

If, then, the reader imagines himself to be in a 
length timbered ready for masonry, he will see over- 
head a number of horizontal and parallel balks reach- 
ing from the highest point of the arch down each 

215 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

side of the tunnel to within a few feet of the bottom. 
Each end of the length is shut in by two tiers of 
short upright beams bearing sills, and above these 
again rises a third fan-shaped tier of supports taking 
directly the weight of the crown-bars. 

The invert, or concave tunnel bottom, is then 
bricked, and after it the two sides to the spring of 
the arch. It now is time to set the *' centres " — 
semicircular wooden frames — across the arch parallel 
to one another at a distance of 3 or 4 feet, and line 
them on their inner and outer sides with stout boards. 
They act as a support over which the masons can 
lay their bricks. Sometimes the arch is built inside 
the crown-bars, sometimes outside them, and some- 
times between them, the bars being withdrawn 
horizontally in turn to make room for the bricks. 

As soon as a length is completed, the excavators 
drive top headings from each end, removing the 
debris and bringing in timber and lining materials 
through the bottom heading, which acts as a common 
feeder to a succession of break-ups, each of which 
has two '* working-faces.'' This system enables the 
work to be pushed forward rapidly, as in the con- 
fined space of a tunnel only a limited number of 
men can be advantageously employed on one face ; 
and a great economy of time results when heading- 
driving, chambering, timbering, and lining are in 
simultaneous progress at different points. The care 
exercised by foremen and miners is evident from 
the fact that out of the 1500 "lengths" taken out, 

216 



The Severn Tunnel 

in only one was the timbering unequal to the strain 
placed upon it by the superincumbent mass. 

The strata encountered were of many kinds. Start- 
ing from the Welsh bank — alluvium, sand, white 
sandstone, marl, conglomerate, millstone grit, coal 
shale, blue shale, clay shale, red sandstone, grey 
sandstone, marl, and gravel. In some places pick- 
and-shovel work was able to cope with the strata, 
but in many rock-drills and blasting became neces- 
sary. When a large number of break-ups were in 
operation the amount of material to be transported 
to and from the working-faces became so great that 
in the Gloucester half of the long heading Mr. Walker 
laid down a double line of rails between which worked 
a continuous steel rope, actuated by an engine at the 
top of Sea- Wall shaft. The rope, or "bond," was 
carried by horizontal rollers placed on the sleepers 
of the road a few feet apart. When the engine was 
started the rope travelled at a uniform speed of 2 
miles an hour round a large pulley situated rather 
more than a mile from the foot of the shaft. Men 
called '' hookers-on '' attached full skips to the rope 
flanking the " up " line, or detached empty ones from 
the '' down '' line rope. At the shaft bottom the 
skips were placed in cages, and after being hoisted, 
discharged, and lowered again, returned for another 
load. The system works so smoothly that at times 
as many as 200 skips were in motion at once ; 
and the cost was reduced to a fraction of that 
of the pony haulage employed at the Welsh end. 

217 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

The reader must bear in mind that in the early 
'eighties the engineer was not nearly so well equipped 
as he is to-day. Electric lighting, for instance, was 
still in its infancy, and not only were candles largely 
used in the workings of the Severn Tunnel, but those 
electric lamps installed give a considerable amount 
of trouble and only a very inadequate amount of 
light according to present ideas. Rock-boring 
machinery also was not nearly so perfect as it is 
to-day, and explosives not so effective. And not until 
1882 was the telephone established in the works. 
Mr. Walker considers that on the very first day of its 
instalment it averted a strike, since a ganger in the 
cabin at one end of the wires overheard a man say- 
ing mutinous things in the other cabin, and by dis- 
missing him prevented further mischief. The mining 
engineer is now able to apply electricity in many 
other ways that were unknown at that time. And 
last, but not least, the '^ pneumatic shield " for pene- 
trating water-logged strata has since then become a 
much more efficient machine. 

On the 2nd of December a curious panic seized 
the workmen in the long heading under the river. 
Mr. Walker found about 300 to 400 men at the top 
of the main Sudbrook shaft, all breathless and excited, 
some partly naked. On inquiring what was the 
matter, he was told that the river had broken in, but 
nobody appeared to be able to give any definite state- 
ment as to where it had burst through. There was no 
more water than usual in the pumping-pit, and its 

218 



The Severn Tunnel 

colour was unchanged. Accordingly Mr. Walker and 
two foremen descended the shaft and found the head- 
ing perfectly dry, except for the ordinary drainage 
from small leaks. In several places hats, kerchiefs, 
waistcoats, and leggings strewed the floor of the work- 
ings — marks of a hurried flight. It afterwards turned 
out that some water, imprisoned by an obstruction in 
a heading on the Gloucester side, had, on the removal 
of the obstacle, flowed down the long heading and 
topped the edge of a shoot that carried any leakage. 
The men at the Welsh end, not knowing the cause of 
this sudden increase in the flow, acted on a miner's 
advice to '' fly for their lives," rushing to the Sudbrook 
winding-shaft. ''When passing through lengths of 
finished tunnel," says Mr. Walker ,i ''they spread out 
in a disorderly crowd, running perhaps 20 feet 
wide ; then they would come to a short length 
between two break-ups, where there was only a 
7-foot heading. Here they threw each other down, 
trampled upon each other, shouting and screaming ; 
and then, to add to the disorder, the ponies in the 
various break-ups took the alarm and galloped down 
in the direction of the winding-shaft, trampling on the 
prostrate bodies of the men. . . . When the men 
reached the top of the pit, the night-shift — which 
would go below at two o'clock — had already received 
their pay, and were gathering ready to descend. It 
may be imagined that these men cruelly chaffed the 
others who had come up, as soon as it was known 

^ In his book on the tunnel. 
219 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

that there was no danger below ; and I have reason 
to think they reaped quite a harvest of neckties and 
other things thrown away by the others, when they 
went down to their work." 

Thus ended an incident which, comical enough in 
itself, must have given the men concerned — no one 
more than the contractor — a very bad quarter of an 
hour. 

Real troubles were about to occur again. At the 
close of May 1883 an attempt was made to open the 
door in the wall keeping out the Great Spring. But 
the debris behind rendered all efforts vain, and even- 
tually a hole a foot in diameter had to be bored 
through the door with augurs ; and through this 
hole the men tried to clear away the impediment. 
This method proving impracticable, a heading was 
driven below the blocked heading, and a break-up 
made to allow the water to pass that way, and permit 
an examination of the upper heading. The men 
found that the roof had fallen in for a length of 50 
to 60 feet, and that there was an enormous cavity 
overhead. An inclined heading was therefore driven 
from the top heading into the cavity, and quantities of 
timber and other materials thrown into it to protect 
the bottom heading. Three new doors were then 
built, one in each of the three headings, as a pre- 
caution against further irruptions of water. 

But the Great Spring had only been scotched. On 
October 10, 1883, the unwelcome news reached Mr. 
Walker that it was pouring into the lower heading in 

220 



The Severn Tunnel 

a larger volume than had yet been met with. He 
found, on descending the shaft, a river i6 feet wide 
and 3 feet 6 inches deep roaring down the 40-foot 
drop to the bottom of the shaft. The heading door 
could not be closed ; the pumps could not check the 
inflow ; and in a short time the men in the long head- 
ing were making for the Welsh shore. The next day 
52 feet of water stood in the works. The services of 
Lambert were again requisitioned, and this intrepid 
diver managed to close the door through which the 
water flowed. By November 3 the tunnel was again 
freed of water and the Great Spring in check. 

As though the lot of the engineers and contractors 
had not yet been sufficiently hard, the sea next showed 
its malice. The shore on the Welsh side is, at the 
water's edge — the site of the Old, Iron, and New Shafts 
— considerably above the high-tide level. But farther 
inland there are flat, low-lying marshes — once fertile 
meadow land protected by a sea-wall — liable to be 
swept by spring tides. In the centre of the marshes 
the Marsh Shaft had been sunk. 

On October 17, 1883, the night-shift had descended 
to their work in the headings opening from this shaft. 
It was a tempestuous night, the wind blowing south- 
west, and an unusually high tide was known to be 
due. Previously no tide had ever reached the site of 
the shaft, and there appeared to be no reason for 
anxiety. But the wind working with the tide, as it 
did in November 1897 on the East Coast, piled up the 
waters in the Severn estuary to an alarming height. 

221 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

A great tidal wave, advancing in a solid wall, burst 
over the marshes. Some houses, belonging to a tin- 
plate works, were invaded by the flood to a depth of 
5 or 6 feet, and the children had to be placed for 
safety on piled tables or shelves. The wave next 
attacked the pumping-station and extinguished the 
fires. Then, meeting the shaft, it roared down a fall 
of 100 feet. What must have been the feelings of the 
unhappy miners below ! A few managed to climb the 
ladders and escape, but one poor fellow, when half- 
way up, was torn off by the violence of the water and 
hurled into the gulf below. 

There remained eighty-three men in the shaft. As 
the water rose they retreated farther up the gradient, 
waiting for the end. Meanwhile others, at the ground 
level, were making desperate efforts to form a circular 
dam round the mouth of the shaft. Sacks, timber, 
and even clothing were used. Fortunately, the first 
fury of the tide was soon expended. The dam served 
its purpose, and preparations were made for going 
below with a small boat to explore the tunnel. At 
the bottom of the shaft the water had risen to within 
8 feet of the tunnel crown. The men were finally 
rescued from the break-up in which they had taken 
refuge, and brought safely to the top. Had the tide 
been a few inches higher it is probable that not one 
would have survived the catastrophe. 

The position of affairs was now indeed lamentable. 
Flooded headings, flooded cuttings, and a spring of 
unknown copiousness to reckon with. The clearing 

222 



The Severn Tunnel 

of the sea water was only a matter of time, and the 
workings were soon emptied. But the delays, meaning 
extra wages, the continually recurring need for new 
pumps and engines to meet some fresh catastrophe, 
and the huge bill for fuel, had already put the con- 
tractor ;3^ioo,ooo out of pocket ! Still he must 
persevere with his arduous and wearing task : the 
tunnel must be finished even if it ruined him. 

To the Big Spring Sir John Hawkshaw and Mr. 
Walker now turned their earnest attention. As a 
preliminary to underground operations, the bed of the 
small river Neddern — suspected of feeding the Spring 
— was lined with a concrete invert for nearly 4 
miles. A heading was then driven parallel to the 
centre line of the tunnel, but 40 feet to the north of it, 
so as to drain the Spring from the flank and leave the 
site of the tunnel dry. The plan succeeded so well 
that it was possible to push on the top heading to- 
wards that running from the next shaft, and on 
October 17 a way lay clear from one end of the tunnel 
to the other. The chambering out of the Spring 
length was, however, a difficult business, as small 
fissures crossed the line here and there. But at last 
the masons completed their work, and the tunnel lining 
was finished. 

On September 5, 1885, a train passed through the 
tunnel from end to end carrying the chairman of the 
Great Western Railway and a party of friends. Mr. 
Walker shortly afterwards quitted the scene of his 
labours for South America, where other work awaited 

223 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

him. His old enemy soon called him back. The 
Great Spring was giving trouble, squeezing the tunnel 
lining with such force that bricks flew out from their 
settings. In order to relieve the pressure it was 
decided to erect a pumping-station for permanent use. 
Every day water to the average amount of 24 million 
gallons is emptied by the pumps into the Severn, a 
supply sufficient, as Mr. Walker has calculated, to 
form annually a lake 1000 acres in extent and 30 feet 
deep. 

The passenger whose lot it is to be plunged for 
some minutes into the darkness of the Severn tunnel, 
will, after reading these lines be able better to appre- 
ciate the magnitude of the work needed to make his 
swift passage a possibility. Here are a few points for 
him specially to ponder upon : That the construction 
of the tunnel occupied fourteen years, and consumed 
over 77 million bricks ; that the water pumped out 
during those years represents a lake 3 miles square 
and 30 feet deep ; that though the working was con- 
ducted from more than forty break-ups, the calcula- 
tions were made so accurately that, when the sections 
joined, no deviation from absolute straightness in the 
2f miles of straight tunnel could be detected by in- 
struments. 

Among submarine tunnels the Severn holds first 
place on the score of difficulty in construction. Mn 
Walker himself confesses in his book that one such 
tunnel was sufficient for a single lifetime. 



224 



CHAPTER XII 

THE SIMPLON TUNNEL 

An entertaining volume might be written on the con- 
flicts between the snow-clad, storm-swept Alps, and 
man, the soldier and engineer. How stirring is the 
story of Hannibal and his Carthaginians, fresh from 
the burning sands of Africa, pushing through the icy 
horrors of the Little St. Bernard ! And of Napoleon, 
snatching a shovel from the numbed grasp of a 
pioneer to lead the attack on the drifts of the pass 
that lay between him and the famous field of 
Marengo ! 

Admirable as was the courage that enabled Cartha- 
ginian, Gaul, Goth, Hun, and Frenchman to triumph 
over the resistance of nature, we must not let the 
fascination which attends the clash of arms blind 
us to the romance of the later phases of the struggle, 
still being waged, though time has changed the 
fashion. 

Now no longer is seen the train of elephants or 
baggage mules, and the glitter of spear and sword 
and bayonet. In their place we have the iron steed 
climbing steadily through the rocky fastnesses, and 
those wonderful weapons of the engineer, the theo- 
dolite and persistent mechanical drill. Armies occupy 

225 P 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

the glens, but they are armies of workmen. Generals 
issue orders and direct the march ; but the march is 
one of peace, more fraught with the good of mankind 
than was the passage of invading hordes. 

What patience and skill is represented by the great 
tubes that pierce Mont Cenis, Mount St. Gothard, 
the Arlberg, and the Simplon ! Yet the names of the 
men who planned and executed such deeds are un- 
known to the world at large, though every schoolboy 
is familiar with Hannibal and Napoleon. 

The dash into the darkness of a tunnel is so 
frequent an occurrence on a railway journey that 
we reck little of it. Perhaps sometimes, after losing 
sight of the sunshine for several minutes, we have 
a dim consciousness that there has been wonderful 
work done on that part of the line ; and we return to 
the perusal of our books and papers while our train 
speeds on over or through other engineering triumphs. 
Having eyes, we see not. 

Think of the task that an engineer sets himself 
when he undertakes to burrow through a mountain 
for several miles. To save time he must commence 
the work at both ends simultaneously. To make sure 
of the headings meeting he must not put tool to rock 
until all his calculations have been made most care- 
fully by compass and theodolite, and verified time 
after time. To deal with the water springs possibly 
lurking in the mountain's heart, he must drive the 
tunnel on a rising gradient to the centre — a much 
more complicated feat than a perfectly rectilinear 

226 



The Simplon Tunnel 

course. To give his men an atmosphere fit to breathe, 
special apparatus for ventilation must be installed that 
will force the outer air deep into the very heart of the 
rocky mass. 

All this entails years of anxious and unremitting 
toil. At any moment he may find himself face to face 
with an obstacle that threatens the ruin of his enter- 
prise : the fall of a stratum, the inrush of a subterra- 
nean reservoir. There are many foes waiting for him. 

In short, so great are the uncertainties and diffi- 
culties of tunnel-driving that the engineer, when con- 
fronted by a range or mountains of hills, decides in 
favour of burrowing only when calculation has shown 
that the longest way round is not the shortest way 
home. In adding up the total advantages of an open 
road in cutting, and of a tunnel, there are many things 
to be considered and weighed one against the other, 
economy controlling the balance. A detour costs less 
in construction, and is sooner open for traffic. A 
tunnel is shorter, less expensive to maintain, and 
avoids the heavy gradients of the open way. But its 
initial cost is enormous, both in time and money. 
Fortunately for international communication, the great 
advance in the art of tunnel-building has done much 
to remove the principal objections to tunnels, and 
when the choice lies between a tunnel and a long 
detour with stiff gradients, the former generally wins 
the day. 

Hence some of the most remarkable engineering 
triumphs. 

227 



Romance of Modern Engineering 



I 



The story of Mont Cenis and St. Gothard tunnels 
has been told so often that it will be here but briefly 
recapitulated as preface to an account of an even 
greater undertaking still in progress beneath the 
Simplon. 

Between Italy and France runs the range known 
in its different portions as the Graian and Cottian 
Alps. Prior to 1871 the Fell Railway, laid on the 
road built by the first Napoleon, transported travellers 
across the frontier. This track proving insufficient, 
Italian engineers began their surveys for a tunnel 
under the Grand Vallon, that should connect the 
Paris-Marseilles railway system, by means of a branch 
from Macon, with the Italian lines that converge on 
Turin. The work, commenced the same year, was, 
thanks to the aid of the newly invented air-drills of 
Sommeiller, completed in 1871 at a total expenditure 
of ;£ 3,000,000. 

The following year witnessed the inauguration of 
a similar scheme for piercing the Mount St. Gothard, 
and linking up Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland 
with Italy, vid B&le and Lucerne. Nearly 300,000,000 
francs were guaranteed by the countries most inter- 
ested in the undertaking, and after the changes and 
chances of ten years, marked by labour and financial i 
difficulties, the death of M. Favre, the contractor, 
and the Franco-German War, the tunnel was opened 1 
to traffic. In addition to the main tunnel, 9J miles 
long, the engineers constructed several wonderful 
helicoidal [i.e. corkscrew-shaped) tunnels on the ap- 

228 



The Simplon Tunnel 

preaches, in which the track doubles back and over 
itself in a manner most bewildering to the traveller. 

Length for length, the St. Gothard was driven almost 
twice as fast as the 8-mile Mont Cenis (or more pro- 
perly. Grand Vallon) tunnel. 

The cry was still for '* more." A glance at the 
map of Switzerland reveals a railroad running from 
Lausanne along the north shore of Lake Geneva, 
and on through the Rhone Valley to a terminus at 
Brieg. On the Italian side of the neighbouring Lepon- 
tine Alps, the northern lines throw out a feeler to 
Arona, at the south end of Lake Maggiore. Between 
these termini the only present means of communication 
is a daily service of coaches, running over the fine 
mountain road. But this will soon be a thing of the 
past, as a tunnel is fast penetrating the Simplon in 
a straight line from Brieg to Iselle, a small town on 
the upper waters of the Diveria, a tributary of the 
river Toce. A new railway is being built from Arona 
up the Toce valley vid Domo D'Ossola, to complete 
the connection and provide a new route from Paris 
to Genoa by way of Dijon, Portarlier, and Lausanne. 

The Simplon tunnel will have an ultimate length 
of 12J miles, of which 12 are on the straight, the 
line curving away at the ends to join the open tracks. 
At the centre there will be a level stretch of about 
750 yards. From this the line falls gently on a 
gradient of i in 500 to Bafifi, at the Swiss end ; and 
by a more sudden descent of i in 143 to Iselle in 
Italy. The highest point being but 2314 feet above 

229 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

sea level, or 1474 feet less than in the case of the 
St. Gothard, the cost and difficulty of haulage will 
not be nearly as great as that of the more easterly 
route, and only one helical tunnel — on the Italian 
side — is necessary for the approaches. 

The Simplon differs from the Mont Cenis and St. 
Gothard undertakings in that the tracks will run in 
separate parallel tunnels, the axes of which are 56 feet 
apart. At present only one of these is being completed 
to full section (19 feet 6 inches by 19 feet 6 inches). The 
other will be enlarged from its temporary dimensions 
(10 feet by 8 feet) as soon as the need arises, at a much 
smaller cost than the first. Every 220 yards cross- 
passages are cut between the two tunnels, the most 
recent only remaining open to promote the proper 
ventilation of the workings. This subsidiary work, 
which for distinction's sake may be styled tunnel 
No. 2, has also proved most useful for drainage, the 
storage of material, and as a conduit for the com- 
pressed air and water pipes. 

The determination of the centre line of so long 
a tunnel running under a series of lofty peaks is no 
easy matter. It being impossible to pick out a straight 
line immediately over the proposed path of the tunnel, 
mark it, and guide the operations by observations of 
these marks from time to time, the surveyors, after 
setting two fixed points, one at each end of tunnel 
No. I, had to calculate the path of the excavations 
by means of triangulations struck from eleven peaks, 
of which Monte Leone holds the central position. 

230 



The Simplon Tunnel 

*'On the top of each summit is placed a signal, con- 
sisting of a small pillar of masonry founded on rock, 
and capped with a sharp pointed cone of zinc, i foot 
6 inches high. An observatory was built at each end 
of the tunnel in such a position that three of the 
summits could be seen, a condition very difficult to 
fulfil on the south side owing to the depth of the 
gorge, the mountains on either side being over 7000 
feet high. Having taken the angles to and from each 
visible signal, and therefrom having calculated the direc- 
tion of the tunnel, it was necessary to fix, with extreme 
accuracy, sighting points on the axis of the tunnel, 
in order to avoid sighting on to the surrounding 
peaks for each subsequent correction of the align- 
ment of the galleries. To do this, a theodolite 
24 inches long and 2f inches in diameter, with a 
magnifying power of forty times, was set up in the 
observatory, and about 100 readings were taken of 
the angles between the surrounding signals and the 
required sighting points. Thus, at the north end two 
points were found about 550 yards before and behind 
the observatory, while on the south side, owing to 
the narrowness of the gorge, the points could only 
be placed 82 yards and 176 yards in front. One of 
these sighting points consists of a fine scratch ruled 
on a glass in an iron frame, behind which is placed 
an acetylene lamp — corrections of alignment are 
always done by night — the whole being rigidly fixed 
into a niche cut in the rock, and protected from 
climatic and other disturbing agencies by an iron plate. 

231 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

''The direction of heading No. i is checked by ex- 
perts from the Government Survey Department at 
Lausanne about three times a year, and for this 
purpose a transit instrument is set up in the obser- 
vatory. A number of three-legged iron tables are 
placed at intervals of i mile or 2 miles along the axis 
of tunnel No. i, and upon each of these is placed a 
horizontal plane, movable by means of an adjusting 
screw, in a direction at right angles to the axis along 
a graduated scale. On this plane are small sockets, 
into which the legs of an acetylene lamp and screen, 
or of the transit instrument, can be quickly and 
accurately placed. The screen has a vertical slit, 
3 inches in height, and variable between if inches 
and j^^ inches in breadth, according to the state of 
the atmosphere, and at a distance shows a fine thread 
of light. The instrument, having first been sighted 
on to the illuminated scratch of the sighting point, 
is directed up the tunnel, where a thread of light is 
shown from the first table. With the aid of a tele- 
phone, this light is adjusted so that its image is exactly 
coincident with the cross hairs, and the reading on 
the graduated scale is noted. This is done four or 
five times, the average of these readings being taken 
as correct, and the plane is clamped to that average. 
The instrument is then taken to the first table, and 
is placed quickly and accurately over the point just 
found (by means of the sockets), and the lamp is 
carried to the observatory. After first sighting back, 
a second point is given on the second table, and so on. 

232 



'\i 



The Simplon Tunnel 

These points are marked either temporarily in the 
roof of the heading by a short piece of cord hanging 
down, or permanently by a brass point held by a 
small steel cylinder, 8 inches long and 3 inches in 
diameter, embedded in concrete in the rock floor, 
and protected by a circular casting, also sunk in 
cement concrete, holding an iron cover resembling 
that of a small manhole. From time to time the 
alignment is checked from these points by the 
engineers, and after each blast the general direction 
is given by the hand from the temporary points." ^ 

The accuracy of the surveyor's calculations is one 
of the greatest marvels of modern engineering. In 
the Mont Cenis tunnel the error was but a matter of 
I inch in 8 miles ; in the St. Gothard about a foot 
in 9 miles, quite negligible quantities. 

The contractors, Messrs. Brandt, Brandau & Co., 
of Hamburg, signed in May 1898 the contract for the 
entire completion of the work by May 13, 1904, or 
within five and a half years of the commencement on 
November 21, 1898. For every day in excess of that 
period a fine of 5000 francs (;^20o) will be imposed, 
and for every day less the contractors earn a premium 
of equal amount. Epidemic, war, or mutual lassitude 
of Italy and Switzerland, are fixed as the only causes 
for the cessation of work. Should the operations 
continue for more than a year beyond the stipulated 
time, the contractors will hand over the execution to 
the Jura-Simplon Company. 

1 From " Tunnelling," by Charles Prelini and Charles S. Hill. 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

The contract price is 69,500,000 francs, or about 
;^2,78o,ooo. 

The progress of the tunnel is shown in the following 
figures. In 1898, out of a total of 21,564 yards, 447 
were completed : — 



By the end of 1899 


4,227 yards 


1900 


7,947 » 


By August 1 90 1 


10,790 „ 


By June 1902 


13,345 n 



Since then the rate of advance has been steady, 
and we may expect that, unless some unforeseen 
obstacle of unusual proportions presents itself, the 
work will be successfully concluded in contract 
time, 

A simple calculation shows that the average advance 
from November 1898 to June 1902 was 31 feet a day. 
During part of this period Sunday was considered a 
dies non by the workmen ; and the yearly holidays 
being also subtracted the average then rose to 33 or 
34 feet per diem. Compare this with the average yf 
feet of the Mont Cenis, and the daily 13^ feet of the 
Mount St. Gothard, and the rapid development of the 
art of tunnelling is evident. In justice to M. Favre 
we must, however, admit that the total section of the 
two Simplon tunnels is not equal to that of the single 
St. Gothard ; but even when due allowance has been 
made on this head, the contrast in speed is marked. 

One of the greatest difficulties in tunnel-driving 
through mountains arises from the need of proper 

234 



The Simplon Tunnel 

ventilation at the working-face. The heat of a 
tunnel increases with the altitude of the superin- 
cumbent mass. At the centre of the Simplon, where 
6000 feet of rock cover the workings, the heat would 
be unendurable but for artificial means of cooling, 
while the fumes from the explosives would render the 
air unfit for respiration, were it not constantly replaced 
by fresh supplies from outside the tunnel. 

The plant for ventilation and transmission of power, 
shops, hospitals, laundries, and other establishments 
for the convenience of employes, are practically the 
same at Baflfi and Iselle. It will therefore suffice to 
describe what is seen at the Italian end. 

The first thing that attracts our attention is the 
power-house, containing three Escher-Wyss turbines, 
two of 250 horse-power, and one of 600 horse-power, 
running at 170 revolutions per minute. To these 
are attached ten pumps for supplying water to 
hydraulic accumulators at a pressure of 1764 lbs. to 
the square inch. From the accumulators the water 
passes through 4-inch pipes up the tunnel to the 
working-face, where it actuates six rock drills, to be 
described presently. 

It is fortunate for the contractor that he can at a 
comparatively small cost harness the force of the 
Diveria to his drills. The river has been dammed 
about 2^ miles above the power-house, and turned 
into two reservoirs connected with the turbines by 
large pipes, cast-iron for the first 1440 yards, and then 
built up of steel plates :|-inch thick. At the power- 

235 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

house the pressure of the water is about 250 lbs. to 
the square inch. 

A special pair of 200 horse-power turbines does all 
the ventilating of the Italian excavations. Each drives 
a fan 12 J feet in diameter and 3 tons in weight, which 
forces air through a 14-inch pipe to the working-face. 
The pipe is carried along close to the roof of the 
tunnel, and is added to as the excavation proceeds. 

We notice the two electric-light stations each 
supplying current for 32 arc lamps of 500 candle- 
power, and 100 i6-candle-power bulbs. Passing the 
machine-tool shop, where are installed lathes, planing 
machines, saws, &c. — all worked by turbines — we 
come to the smithy and foundry, a most important 
part of the workshop. Their principal function is to 
make and repair cutters for the Brandt borer, invented 
by and named after the contractor.^ 

The welfare of the employes has been provided for 
in the bath-houses, where every miner can have a 
bath or douche when he leaves the tunnel at the end 
of his shift ; and in the laundries and drying-rooms, 
where the dirt and moisture is removed from his 
clothes. Instead of a locker each man has a numbered 
cord supporting three hooks, and a soap dish, which, 
when loaded with their owner's belongings, are 
hauled up to the ceiling out of the way, and into the 
warm upper stratum of air. At the restaurants excel- 
lent food is provided for the very moderate sum of 

* Sad to relate, the same fate overtook MM. Favre and Brandt — 
death from apoplexy before the completion of their great works. 

236 



The Simplon Tunnel 

I id. a day ; 2d. more ensures the miner a comfortable 
bed in rooms lit by electric light. So that his bodily 
needs are well cared for. 

Debris is removed from, and material carried into 
the tunnel by trucks and engines running on a line 
of 3i|-inch gauge. The engines are of two types, 
steam and hot-air. The steamers have very large 
boilers, so that when steam is once up they may 
make the journey to and from the working face 
without any need for stoking, and the consequent 
fouling of the atmosphere. Their height to the top 
of the boiler is but 6 feet 6J inches ; and the short 
14-inch funnel is provided with a hinge for lowering 
it in confined spaces. 

The air locomotives are used chiefly in the head- 
ings. Their freedom from fire and steam fits them 
for haulage in the farthest interior, where coolness 
is of great importance. The compressed air, driving 
a single cylinder that actuates the 2-foot road wheels 
through intermediate gearing, is stored in 27 cylinders, 
at a pressure of 1030 lbs. to the square inch ; the 
supply being renewed when necessary from an air- 
valve situated i| miles from the entrance, and 
connected by piping with compressors at the power- 
station. 

For the following description of the southern or 
Italian end of the excavation, the writer is largely 
indebted to an account that appeared in the columns 
of The Engineer. 

The men work in three shifts of eight hours each. 

237 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Their day is reckoned, Jewish fashion, from 6 P.M. 
till 6 P.M. Seven days a week the operations go 
on, as soon as the boundary line between the two 
countries has been passed ; for the Italian workmen, 
who obey their priests in the matter of Sabbath 
keeping while in Italy, declare that they "have no 
religion'' when once they enter Switzerland. ''This 
is the only blot on the undertaking, for, in the opinion 
of tunnel experts, no loss of time, but rather gain, 
is secured by allowing men, horses, and machinery 
to rest for the one day in seven. As it is, work goes 
on incessantly from one year's end to another, with 
the exception of four or five days which are particular 
feasts, or are days on which the special Government 
engineers appointed for verifying the axis of the 
tunnel require cessation of work for getting their 
lines into the tunnels from their telescopes and 
theodolites." 1 

The men are encouraged to exert themselves by a 
system of premiums. Each gang benefits by any 
daily advance over the average. The work is so 
unpleasant and exhausting, that but for some such 
arrangement there would be flagging, with loss to 
the contractors. 

Trains, running to a regular time-table, convey 
men and materials in and out of the tunnel about 
30 times a day ; punctuality in starting and arrival 
being strictly observed. 

The air at the entrance is described by a visitor as a 

^ The Times y August 29, 1901. 

238 



The Simplon Tunnel 

more sulphurous edition of that of the London 
Metropolitan Railway. As the " face " is approached 
the temperature falls, until we enter the comparative 
comfort of the fresh-air supply. The tunnel is well 
lined with Antigorio gneiss, the spoil of the excava- 
tions. Every loo metres a ''refuge" is let into the 
south-west wall, and at every looo metres small cellars 
have been constructed for the storage of supplies 
and signalling apparatus. 

At the ''tunnel station" passengers quit the train, 
and proceed on foot to the scene of excavation, 
where springs of water are unpleasantly in evidence. 
The temperature of these inflows shows that they 
are due to leakage from the surface, and not to 
the proximity of a subterranean reservoir. On the 
Italian side of the mountain the first 4350 metres 
pierced were through gneiss, hard but comparatively 
free from moisture. Then followed a short section — 
40 metres long — of micaceous schist, that has proved 
to the contractors much what the Great Spring was 
to Mr. Walker in the Severn Tunnel. 

The schist, being softer than the rock, is squeezed 
into any excavation piercing it. So great was the 
pressure that timbers 16 inches square, packed closely 
together, broke up like matchwood, and blocked the 
boring. After six months of hard work the engineers 
succeeded in replacing the wooden with iron frames 
formed of girders 15! inches deep, 6^ inches wide 
across the flanges, and | inch thick in the plates. 
Stout timbers bolted to each side of the frames 

239 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

greatly increased their strength. In the first portion 
of the ^' fault/' 32 frames were placed contiguously; 
but in the farther part spaces of 16 to 48 inches, 
filled in with concrete, separated them according to 
the plasticity of the schist. 

The difficulty of erecting these frames was, as may 
be imagined, very great, at one time apparently in- 
surmountable, if the engineer's vocabulary admits 
such a word. The delay, in addition to the extra 
work, entailed a great increase of speed in the boring 
beyond, where the rock is more amenable, to make 
up for lost time. 

The frames allow an internal passage, 8 feet 2 
inches by 9 feet 2 inches. The material all round 
them had to be cleared away for a generous distance 
to admit an unusually thick lining of masonry. The 
removal of the schist has proved a very tedious 
business, since care must be taken not to leave the 
frames unsupported for more than a few feet at any 
one place. 

Excavation commenced by cutting a hole through 
one of the side posts sufficiently large to pass work- 
men and materials. The men chiselled a short shaft 
downwards, and then drove a heading under the 
base of the frame to the centre line, and the half 
of the invert (or arch with the concave side upwards, 
of gentler curvature than the tunnel roof) was built 
in. Meanwhile other hands tunnelled below the 
farther side of the frame ; and when they too reached 
the centre line, and put in their half of the masonry, 

240 



The Simplon Tunnel 

a section of the tunnel bottom was finished. The 
work proceeded after this manner in rings a few 
feet apart. 

The sides and upper arch have next to be dealt 
with. It has been proposed to build these in when 
the interval between the outside of the frames and 
the inner side of the tunnel lining has been cleared 
and filled with temporary masonry, which will serve 
as a support for the timbering in the space actually 
occupied by the lining. The completion of this short 
length will probably require a total of nearly two 
years' work. 

It was found impossible to drive the smaller tunnel 
forward through the fault, so the engineers abandoned 
No. 2 heading for a time, and when No. i heading 
was lined, cut a cross passage and burrowed back- 
wards. 

At the working face three Brandt hydraulic drills, 
mounted on a beam wedged across the heading, are 
eating holes into the rock for the reception of the 
blasting charges. 

A short description of these drills is pertinent, as 
they have played so important a part in the excava- 
tion. On the Mont Cenis and St. Gothard tunnels 
the holes were bored by percussion air-drills, making 
200 strokes a minute. During the driving of the 
Arlberg Tunnel (1880-1884) a trial was given to 
Brandt's invention, which revolves a hollow cutter, 
2f to 3^ inches in diameter, held against the face of 
the rock by an hydraulic ram exerting a pressure of 

241 Q 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

about 10 tons. A couple of small cylinders drive the 
mandrel holding the cutter through worm gearing, 
and the exhaust water issuing from them is shot up 
the centre of the drill, serving the double purpose 
of cooling the metal and removing the detritus. 

The severity of the work soon wears down the three 
fangs at the cutting-edge, which must be re-formed in 
the smithy, where 300 to 500 cutters are treated daily, 
according to the nature of the stratum encountered, 
and in addition 1000 to 3000 hand chisels. 

The drills are tended by fourteen or fifteen of the 
smartest miners, capable of sustained work under 
most trying conditions, and supervised by a foreman 
and engineer. The slowly revolving cutters having 
made eleven holes 3 feet 3 inches to 4 feet 7 inches 
deep in the face, the drill beam is twisted round on its 
truck and run into a place of safety. Then the dyna- 
mite truck advances with its deadly load. Special 
workmen place 6 lbs. of explosive into each hole, 
fix the detonators and fuses, and ram in fine borings 
behind as '^tamping." When all is ready the fuses 
are lit, and every one quickly withdraws into shelter. 
From their refuge the men count the reports, which 
are accompanied by a violent rush of air and dense 
fumes. The last are precipitated by jets of water from 
the high-pressure hydraulic main, let loose after each 
explosion. 

Ten minutes having elapsed since the last discharge, 
the men return to the heading to pile the debris into 
trucks, which are hauled out by small ponies to the 

242 



The Simplon Tunnel 

air-locomotives, which pass them on to the steamers. 
Each ^' Hft," or advance, of the drills removes 264 cubic 
feet of rock. In hard rock only three or four lifts are 
made a day, but in soft the number rises to eight 
or ten. 

The general method of clearing out the workings to 
full section is similar to that already described in 
connection with the Severn Tunnel. The blasted 
passage serves as the lower heading, from which 
shafts are chiselled upwards to the elevation of the 
tunnel crown, to act as starting-points for the upper 
galleries. As soon as the arch has been quarried out, 
the floor separating the two headings is cut away, and 
the lower portion enlarged. Wherever necessary, an 
elaborate system of timbering insures the safety of 
the workmen, and prevents the caving-in of the sides. 
The masons follow hard behind the excavators, and 
put in the lining of stone. 

When the tunnel is completed, special attention will 
be paid to its ventilation. At Brieg and Iselle the 
entrances are to be provided with stout curtains to 
turn the air from one tunnel to the other through a 
cross passage at the extremities. Air forced in from 
Brieg will travel to Iselle through one tunnel and return 
through the other. The same effects will result from 
suction. The curtains are of a material which will 
not offer sufficient resistance to damage a train, if by 
accident they are not removed in time for its transit. 

Marseilles is a long way from the Simplon, yet the 
Marseillais will feel the effects of the tunnel. On the 

243 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

opening of the Mont Cenis route, the eastern mail 
services were transferred from Marseilles to Brindisi, 
and passengers also largely used the same means of 
shortening the journey to India. Another serious 
blow at the prosperity of the great southern French 
port was struck by the St. Gothard tunnel, which 
places Bale 135 miles nearer an important harbour 
(Genoa) than it is to Marseilles. Consequently, all the 
merchandise sent from England, Belgium, Holland, 
and German Switzerland now goes to Genoa by rail 
for shipment to the Mediterranean sea-board. The 
completion of the Simplon project will still further 
increase the commercial importance of Genoa at the 
expense of Marseilles ; and the position has become 
so serious that plans have been proposed for connect- 
ing the latter town with the Rhone at Bras Mort by 
a canal 34 miles long, skirting the Gulf of Lyons for 
part of its course. The work is estimated to cost 
8,000,000 francs. 

A canal 20 feet deep would enable vessels of looo-tons 
displacement to reach points 300 miles up the river ; 
and if the cargoes were transhipped to 300-ton barges, 
they could pass over the existing system of internal 
waterways to Nancy, Paris, Havre, and Lille. The 
cost of water transport 1 eing but one-half of that by 
rail, especially in the case of heavy merchandise such 
as coal and other minerals, Marseilles may win back 
to herself much of the traffic that has been diverted 
by the far-away tunnels in the Alps. 



244 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL 

A STRANGER dropped suddenly among the quays and 
wharves of Manchester, seeing around him great ships 
upwards of 9000-tons burden, great cranes unloading 
cargoes, and hundreds of waggons and railway trucks 
receiving the same from towering warehouses, would 
at once exclaim, '' Surely this is not far from the salt 
sea waves 1 " and might imagine that the breezes 
rippling the broad expanse of water before him are 
blowing fresh from the open ocean. But let him 
board yonder vessel just casting off her moorings for 
an outward voyage, and follow her fortunes for a few 
hours, and he will understand that the road to the 
true home of all this shipping is a long one, and that 
Manchester has lured these shapely masts and smok- 
ing funnels far into the heart of Old England by a 
waterway that stands among the foremost of the 
world's engineering romances. 

Let us accompany our passenger, and through 
paper and ink see what he sees. 

As we pass by the long wharves lining the water, 
the channel gradually contracts to a width of some 
250 feet, but widens to 400 as we approach the Mode 
Wheel Locks. These are two in number, the one 600 

245 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

feet long by 65 broad, the other 350 feet by 45. Our 
vessel enters the smaller, and in five minutes has 
descended 13 feet towards sea level. We proceed for 
2I miles, over what was once the bed of the Irwell, 
until our attention is arrested by a curious sight — a 
barge borne aloft in mid-air in a gigantic iron trough, 
known as the Barton Swing Aqueduct. How did the 
barge get there ? Look to left and right and you 
behold, far above the canal level, two iron gates. 
Behind these the Bridgewater Canal is pent, while a 
section of it is calmly swung round — also enclosed 
by shutters at each end — with its floating freight, that 
we may pass. As we drop into Barton Lock, the 
hydraulic machinery on the mid-channel pier slowly 
brings the trough athwart our pathway, and in a few 
minutes the bargeman is urging on his horses en route 
to Worsley. 

The country north and south of us is studded with 
the numerous towns that make this the most thickly- 
populated district of England. Had we but ears to 
hear, the whirr of innumerable spindles would speak 
to us of the great cotton industry of which Manchester 
is the heart ; and into which the Canal is pouring the 
life-blood of commerce, to be distributed by the lesser 
arteries and veins of waterway and railroad. 

A few miles, and we slow up once more for the 
passage of Irlam Lock, which lowers us another 16 
feet ; and when freed we pass under a great railway 
bridge, and note on our left the entrance of the 
Mersey into the Canal. Our voyage is unbroken for 

246 



The Manchester Ship Canal 

7 miles. Inland-bound vessels pass us at a stately 
pace of 5 to 8 miles an hour. There is no need to 
make for a '' siding " to give the other room, as the 
Canal has a generous width — 120 feet at bottom, in- 
creasing to nearly double near the locks. At Rixton 
Junction the Canal leaves the river-bed, and becomes 
purely artificial for the remaining 24 miles of its 
length. At Latchford, 14^ miles from Manchester, 
we again enter a lock, and drop from (comparatively) 
fresh into salt water, for at certain states of the tide no 
barrier is interposed between Latchford and the sea. 
We are now 60 feet lower than our starting-point, 
having descended in four bold steps. 

Sailing with a straight course, we come to Run- 
corn, an important town on the now broadening 
Mersey. The river is within a stone's-throw of our 
boat, but it will be a long time yet before we enter 
its waters. The canal now makes two sweeps, the 
first southwards from Runcorn, the second gradually 
northwards along the southern bank, behind great 
embankments dividing the Canal from the river. 
Eastham reached, we pass the open lock — for the 
tide is up — and pass out into the Mersey at a point 
35^ miles from the great cotton town. 

We may now glance at the history of this under- 
taking. 

As early as 1721, the necessity for efficient water 
communication between Manchester and Liverpool — 
then a rising port — caused Mr. Thomas Steers, an 
engineer of repute, to issue plans for canalising the 

247 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Mersey and Irwell from Warrington — to which small 
vessels ascended on the tideway — to Manchester. 
His scheme was carried out and subsequently ex- 
tended, to compete with the Bridgewater Canal, 
which united Manchester with the Mersey at Runcorn. 
The canal then absorbed the " Mersey and Irwell 
Navigation " in 1844, and the two became formidable 
rivals to the railways ; and finally, in 1886, both were 
transferred to the Manchester Ship Canal Company 
for the sum of ;^i,7i2,ooo — a sufficient proof of their 
importance. 

The first scheme for constructing a ship canal was 
mooted in 1825, when a Company was formed to 
unite Manchester with the Dee by a canal 51 miles 
long, containing fourteen locks. It came to nothing, 
however, sharing the fate of two later proposals, the 
second of which deserves short notice. In 1840 
Mr. Henry Palmer drew up a plan for the Mersey 
and Irwell Navigation Company for deepening the 
existing waterway sufficiently to pass vessels of 400- 
tons burthen to Manchester. By means of training- 
walls built in the river above Runcorn he thought the 
concentrated scour of the tides might be compelled 
to keep open a channel with a minimum depth of 
10 feet. Locks and weirs would be established in the 
upper river ; so that ships of the size mentioned could 
all reach Manchester except those with fixed masts, 
which would be compelled to discharge cargo at 
Barton, where the Bridgewater Aqueduct crossed the 
course. 

248 




^ 


cx) 


o 


^ 




N 










~ 


-Cs 


?= 




o 


H 


■«^ 








^ 


,o 


CA, 


t-H 












The Manchester Ship Canal 

In 1882 the question was again taken up, this time 
with great energy. Seventy leading Manchester mer- 
chants and manufacturers instituted surveys and re- 
ports on the '' feasibility of constructing a navigation 
to Manchester available for ocean-going vessels." Mr. 
H. H. Fulton and Sir E. Leader Williams undertook 
the surveys. The former was in favour of a tidal 
canal all the way to Manchester, where the rise of 
the country would necessitate a basin 90 feet below 
the level of the town. His colleague, however, spoke 
for a locked canal above Runcorn, on the grounds 
that the cost of excavation would be far less, and that 
the presence of locks would convert the river into a 
series of practically still-water pounds. 

The latter plan was accepted by the Company, 
which in 1883 introduced a Bill into Parliament for 
constructive powers, but the application was thrown 
out by the House of Lords after passing the Com- 
mittee of the House of Commons. When introduced 
again the following year, the Lower House in turn 
rejected it; but on a third attempt in 1885 the Com- 
pany gained its end after the costs of introduction 
and opposition had amounted to ;^25o,ooo. 

The Committees left their mark on the Bill, how- 
ever, for the Act demanded that for the training-walls 
in the Mersey should be substituted a semi-tidal canal 
along the Cheshire side of the estuary, entering the 
Mersey at Eastham, 6 miles above Liverpool, whence 
a good low-water channel led to the deep waters. 

After some hesitation on the part of Lancashire 

249 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

financiers, the necessary capital was subscribed, and 
the late Mr. T. A. Walker, of Severn Tunnel fame, 
obtained the contract for ;^5,75o,ooo. On November 
II, 1887, the first sod was cut at Eastham. On May 
21, 1894, the late Queen Victoria formally declared 
the whole Canal open to traffic. 

This titanic work necessitated the excavation of 54 
million cubic yards, nearly a quarter of which was 
sandstone rock. At the busiest period 17,000 men 
were engaged, aided by 80 steam navvies and dredgers, 
316 steam engines and cranes, 173 locomotives, and 
6300 waggons and trucks running on 228 miles of 
temporary railway, the value of which plant ap- 
proached a million sterHng. The cost of the canal, 
including construction of works, the purchase of 
lands (;£i, 289,000), purchase of canals (;^i,786,773), 
parliamentary expenses, general expenses, surveying, 
&c., amounted on January i, 1897, to the huge total 
^^ ;^^5;i68,795, 15s. I id., a sum greatly in excess of 
what the promoters had originally contemplated. It 
must be mentioned, however, that as the work pro- 
gressed, the scheme enlarged itself in the direction 
of greater dock and warehouse accommodation, &c. 
The untimely death of Mr. Walker in 1889, by 
throwing the contract on to the Company, involved 
it in considerable loss. 

As often happens in great engineering feats, the 
" unknown quantity '' of unforeseen natural obstacles, 
such as faults in the strata excavated, and heavy 
floods, pressed hard upon the contractors and pro- 

250 



The Manchester Ship Canal 

moters. In 1890 and 1891 winter floods worked 
great havoc with the cuttings. One cutting, in the 
Irlam division, was almost completed when the 
natural dam at the Manchester end, shutting it off 
from the river, suddenly gave way under the pressure 
of the spate, and in ten minutes over 250 million 
gallons of water had rushed into the cavity, bearing 
with it more than 100,000 cubic yards of material. 
When the water had been pumped out, under cover 
of a new dam, trains of waggons were found tied up 
in knots, and heavy machinery scattered far and wide. 
During the two years mentioned, no less than twenty- 
three miles of cuttings were filled prematurely by 
water, which had, of course, to be pumped out before 
work could proceed. 

Retracing the course of the canal, we will remark 
upon its most noticeable engineering features. 

Throughout its length excavation was needed, but 
in varying degrees. From Eastham to Runcorn, the 
level of the estuary at high tide being equal to, or 
greater than, that of the mean level of the Canal, 
embankments were necessary for long stretches. 
Between Runcorn and Latchford, where tidal action 
ends, the Canal leaves the river and enters higher 
ground, necessitating cuttings from 70 to 40 feet 
deep. From Latchford to the junction with the 
Mersey again the cutting is continued, but from the 
latter point to the confluence with the Irwell embank- 
ments once more are employed to keep in the water. 
The upper reaches of the Irwell required further 

251 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

cuttings 30 to 40 feet deep. The depth of water is 
kept by the locks at 26 feet throughout, the gates 
at Eastham being closed as soon as the tide level 
of the estuary has fallen to that height above the 
bottom of the Canal. During the flow of the spring 
tides, the opened gates permit a greater depth up to 
Latchford. A peculiar feature of the Canal is the 
rapidity with which the tides work up to Latchford, 
where, at high spring tides, the level is raised to 
9^ feet above normal about half-an-hour after high 
tide at Eastham, 21 miles farther down. Within 
2^ hours of high water at Latchford all this extra 
volume has again left the Canal. The result is a 
strong current, which in turn entails the lining of the 
Canal side' with stone facings, which have also to 
withstand the scouring action of a ship's wash. The 
latter consideration has indeed made such a protection 
necessary throughout the Canal, except in a few places 
where natural rock is met with of a sufficient height. 

In the Eastham division of the Canal three large 
embankments were made, known as the Pool Hall, 
Ellesmere Port, and Ince Bay embankments. The 
method generally employed was to tip two parallel 
mounds of rubble on the foreshore to act as toes, or 
supports, for the lower edges of the embankment 
slopes, and then pile between them mounds of stiff clay. 

At some points the engineers encountered great 
difficulties, owing to the pressure of a substratum of 
mud or sand through which the estuary water forced 
its way to the workings. In Ellesmere Bay especially, 

252 



The Manchester Ship Canal 

for a distance of i| miles, a particularly staunch pro- 
tection was needed, for although at that time the 
deep channel of the Mersey lay on the north side of 
the river estuary, it had formerly passed close to the 
southern bank, and might return thither again. 
Accordingly for 5400 feet, two parallel rows of piles, 
I foot square and 35 feet long, were driven down 
contiguously into the sand so as to form two wooden 
walls 78 feet apart, the summits of which were at the 
bottom of the embankment. To make these sub- 
terranean walls the more secure, two additional rows 
of piles — shorter, and 6 feet apart — were sunk to the 
same level at distances of 20 feet from the inner row, 
and 25 feet from the outer row, and anchored to the 
sheet piling by stout cross timbers. 

The driving of these piles, which represent a total 
length of 100 miles of foot - square balks, would 
have been practically impossible, not to say ruin- 
ously expensive, had force only been used. Recourse 
was therefore had to the erosive action of the w^ater- 
jet, a device that has proved of immense use in many 
undertakings. A jet of high-pressure water was 
pumped by steam-engines through a pipe of ij inch 
bore and 40 feet long, which preceded the pile in its 
downward course, softening and loosening the sand 
to such a degree that the pile easily pierced the 
stratum. Twenty-one pile-drivers were kept at work, 
the best week's record being 554 piles sunk into 
place. 

As the rows lengthened a trench 15 feet deep was 

253 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

excavated behind the piles for an average width of 
12 feet, and immediately filled in with rubble and 
clay in equal amounts. This gave a firm and water- 
tight foundation for the superimposed embankment. 
At intervals cross dams were built from side to side 
of the Canal, so that the failure of one part of the 
embankment should not flood the whole of the works. 

Just below Runcorn lock a concrete wall, 4300 
feet long, is substituted for earthwork. The wall is 
founded upon sandstone rock at its extremities, its 
central portion resting on gravel. It has a bottom 
breadth of 22 feet, tapering to 16 feet at the summit, 
which is about 40 feet above the foundation. The 
vertical side facing the Canal is protected from damage 
by timber fenders. This wall is in itself a large and 
costly piece of construction. 

So well have the engineers done their work, that 
after several years the walls remain staunch and 
sound, in spite of severe storms. 

Some of the most difficult portions of the Canal are 
included in the Irlam division, which extends from 
the twenty-sixth to the thirtieth milestone above East- 
ham. The cutting here is deep, and, as the line of the 
Canal crosses the beds of the Mersey and Irwell many 
times, construction proceeded in short lengths across 
the bends, the river being allowed to pursue its 
natural course until each chord was completed. The 
dams at either side were then cut and the arc of river 
turned into the artificial channel, the dried bed being 
filled in with the spoil of the excavations, 

254 



The Manchester Ship Canal 

The strata of blue clay, gravel, and alluvial deposit 
were of such a nature as to cause the sides of the 
cuttings to fall in and sometimes entirely bury the 
steam-navvies and other plant employed in excava- 
tion. At one place a " slip " was burnt and replaced 
in the hole made by its subsidence, but, as a rule, 
the slipped material was cleared away and lumps 
of rock and quarry rubbish substituted. 

Most of the excavating was done by steam-navvies 
of English, French, and German design. The Eng- 
lish machine is stationed in the bottom of a cutting, 
and works a great ladle attached to the end of a 
beam, scraping up the side of the cutting until the 
ladle is filled with its load of i to 2 tons of material. 
The arm then swings round and deposits the spoil 
into a truck. The foreign patterns resemble ordinary 
marine or river dredges, the earth, &c., being collected 
by an endless chain of small buckets working round 
a boom which is gradually lowered into the hollow 
eaten out by the buckets. The French navvies proved 
particularly useful in light soil or soft clay. The 
English make would deal with all sorts of material, 
including blasted rock, which defied the other types. 
Apart from the dry excavating these machines were 
serviceable, as the English navvy could be easily con- 
verted into a lo-ton crane by the removal of the ladle, 
while a slight alteration of the French excavator fitted 
it for work under water. 

Thanks to these powerful allies the rate of excava- 
tion attained 250,000 cubic yards a month in the 

255 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Irlam division alone. Even when rock was handled 
the total for the same period reached 100,000 cubic 
yards. 

In several places the excavated material was used 
in the deviations constructed to carry the railroads 
that cross the Canal at various points. The interrup- 
tion to passenger traffic would have been so great had 
opening bridges been employed that the Canal Com- 
pany adopted high-level viaducts, the under side of 
which was 75 feet above the level of the canal. 
In order to preserve a gradient not exceeding i in 
135, embankments of great length were unavoidable, 
and their construction cost the Company no less than 
^875,000. There are four railroad deviations ; one at 
Warrington to carry the London and North Western, 
and Grand Junction lines ; another at Latchford for 
the Warrington and Stockport Railway; a third at 
Irlam ; and a fourth at Cadishead ; the two last for 
the Cheshire lines. The girders spanning the Canal 
vary in length from 150 to 300 feet according to the 
angle of their crossing. 

Nine important high-roads had also to be given a 
passage. At Warburton and Latchford small editions 
of the Forth Bridge afford a permanent means of 
communication at the same height as the railway 
viaducts. The remaining seven are swing bridges, 
revolving on masonry pillars, with spans ranging 
from 75 to 140 feet. The Moore Lane Bridge may 
be taken as typical. It is 238 feet from end to end 
of the span, the longer arm 240, the shorter 98 in 

256 



The Manchester Ship Canal 

length. The main girders are 27 feet 8 inches deep 
at the centre, diminishing to 6 feet and 8 feet 9I 
inches at the extremities of the arms. These girders 
rest on a square of cross girders, attached to the 
upper roller-path. A live ring carrying 64 conical 
rollers separates this from the lower roller-path on 
the top of the masonry pier. The whole is swung 
round by hydraulic machinery. 

The most interesting feature of the Canal is un- 
doubtedly the Barton Swing Aqueduct, to which 
allusion has already been made. The Bridgewater 
Canal, built in the eighteenth century for the Duke of 
that name by the famous Brindley, connected the 
Worsley coalfields with Manchester, and subsequently 
Manchester with Liverpool. The Canal was, and is, 
considered a wonderful feat on account of the bold 
project, successfully carried out, of its engineer to keep 
it absolutely free of locks into Manchester by raising 
embankments and viaducts, and cutting tunnels wher- 
ever the ground level fell away or natural obstacles 
intervened. To cross the Irwell he built a stone and 
brick aqueduct, which was the first of its kind, and 
one of the Seven Wonders of its time. When the 
Irwell became in turn a canal, the question arose 
how one waterway should cut the other. The smaller 
must, of course, give way to the more important, but 
the construction of locks from the higher to the 
lower level would entail a waste of water which the 
Bridgewater supply could not make good. Sir E. 
Leader Williams met the difficulty by a conception 

257 R 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

as unique as that of Brindley. The Canal should not 
have its level interfered with, but a section of it 
should be bodily moved out of the way of passing 
steamers. The masonry was pulled down and re- 
placed by an iron trough resting at its centre on a 
pier rising in mid-channel. The following is a descrip- 
tion given by its designer ^ : — 

'^ The pier is mainly built of concrete, with brickwork 
and granite in the part that takes the weight of the 
aqueduct, 1400 tons, including the water which is 
always in the iron trough through which the barges 
pass. The sides of the trough are i foot above the 
water level ; it is carried by side girders 234 feet long, 
22 feet 3 inches apart from the centres of the girders, 
which are 33 feet deep, tapering off to 28 feet 9 inches 
at the ends, with a side tow-path carried on a gallery 
9 feet above the water level. Water-tight iron swing- 
gates are provided at each fixed shore end, and also at 
each end of the trough ; when all four gates are open, 
barges pass along the Canal as usual. If a ship is to 
pass through the aqueduct all the gates are closed, the 
shore gates keeping back the water in the Canal, and 
the other gates confining the water in the trough 
when it is swung open for the passage of the ship. 
The gates are worked by hydraulic power, las is also 
the trough, which can be swung with barges in it, the 
gross weight to be moved remaining the same. At 
each end of the trough a water-tight joint is made by 
an iron wedge-piece of the shape of the cross section 

^ Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers y 1897-98. 

258 



The Manchester Ship Canal 

of the end of the trough, both ends and bottom being 
faced with india-rubber. The fixed and movable ends 
of the aqueduct are slightly tapered, and about i foot 
apart ; this vacancy is filled by the wedge-piece, which 
weighs about 12 tons, and is lifted by four hydraulic 
rams sufficiently to allow the trough to be moved, the 
water between the gates being passed off into the Ship 
Canal. The junctions just described are not at right 
angles to the trough, but are slightly diagonal, so as 
to allow sufficient clearance for moving the trough. 
After it has been again closed, the wedge-piece is 
dropped on to its seating, being of the same taper 
as the ends of the trough and aqueduct. 

"The arrangement of the annular girders, rollers, 
&c., are the same as those for the heaviest swing- 
bridges already described, but half the weight of the 
movable portion of the aqueduct is taken by a central 
hydraulic press, 4 feet 9J inches in diameter and 2 
feet 3 inches deep, which acts as a pivot and is free to 
turn ; a hydraulic buffer and locking bolts are also 
provided. The power is obtained from the adjacent 
hydraulic station, which is also used for the road 
swing-bridge. The aqueduct has never given any 
trouble, working quickly and with smoothness, a re- 
sult for which much credit is due to the constructors, 
Messrs. Handyside & Co." 

Not many miles from Barton may be seen another 
remarkable instance of barges moved in closed 
troughs with the same object of avoiding lock wastage. 
At Anderton, some little distance south of Runcorn^ 

259 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

the Trent and Mersey Canal meets the Weaver 
Navigation at a point where there is a difference of 
50 feet in their levels. Barges up to 100 tons dis- 
placement are transported from the one to the other 
by means of a double hydraulic lift, working vertically. 
Two troughs, each weighing with contents 240 tons, 
are supported on two cast-iron rams placed under 
their centres, the cylinders of which are connected by 
piping. When both troughs are full the pressure on 
the rams is equal, and no movement takes place. 
But on 6 inches of water being transferred by syphons 
from the one trough to the other the heavier forces 
up the ram of the lighter. Similar lifts have been 
since constructed at Fontinelles, on the Neufosse 
Canal in France, at La Louviere, on the Central 
Belgium Canal, and at Peterborough, on the Canadian 
Trent Canal. This last has a rise of 65 feet. The 
second transports vessels of 400-tons burden. 

Among the other chief features of the Ship Canal 
we must include the Weaver sluices, the locks, and 
the Manchester Docks. 

The River Weaver entered the Mersey about 2^ 
miles below Runcorn. When the embankment was 
built between the canal and the estuary the natural 
passage of the river was cut off, and it became neces- 
sary to provide means for letting the waters of the 
Weaver into the estuary in the same period of each 
tide as they would have passed into the estuary if the 
Ship Canal had not been made. Great sluices were 
therefore erected on the embankment on a platform of 

260 



The Manchester Ship Canal 

masonry 470 feet long and 3 to 4 feet thick, pro- 
tected on both faces by sheet piles and stones 
against the undermining action of the water passing 
over. 

Steel caissons 36 feet long and 9 feet wide were 
built into the platform to contain the lower part of 
the piers between the sluice gates, which are ten in 
number, each 30 feet wide, with a lift of 13 feet. A 
bridge passing over the tops of the piers carries the 
winding-gear, by means of which two men can easily 
raise the ponderous gates. 

Since the Weaver is practically the only route by 
which Cheshire salt can reach Liverpool for export, 
any derangement of traffic over the Navigation 
would have spelt heavy loss to the salt mines and the 
British salt trade. Under the Ship Canal Acts the 
Company had to permit Weaver salt barges a free 
use of the Ship Canal to Eastham, unless their tonnage 
exceeded that of those previously used. Chemical 
and other traffic had to pay the usual tolls to the 
Company. If the owners preferred it, however, the 
barges could drop into the Mersey at Runcorn, or 
Weston Mersey locks. 

The locks on the direct course of the Canal at 
Latchford, Irlam, Barton, and Mode Wheel, are 
duplicated ; a 600 by 65 lock lying parallel to one 
350 by 45 feet. By means of intermediate gates these 
can be subdivided into smaller lengths of 150 and 450 
feet, and 120 and 230 feet respectively, so as to pass 
craft of all sizes with the greatest possible economy of 

261 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

time. Large culverts running along the lock walls fill 
the 350-foot lock in 4J minutes, and the other in pro- 
portionate time. Between the smaller lock and the 
southern bank of the Canal — which doubles its breadth 
at the locks — is a weir pierced by 30-foot sluices to 
pass all surplus water. In flood time these are espe- 
cially useful ; on such occasions some of the spate is 
discharged through the embankments into the upper 
reaches of the Mersey estuary. 

At Eastham, a third lock, 150 feet long, is added 
the 600 and 350-foot locks having their width in- 
creased to 80 and 50 feet. The cement used in the 
construction of the locks was subjected to severe 
tests ; a notice of which may be interesting to those 
readers who are unacquainted with the properties of 
this material. 

The cement was tested fourteen days after delivery. 
Samples taken from every 30 tons were first passed 
through sieves of 2000 meshes to the square inch, and 
all cement rejected which left a residue of more than 
10 per cent, in the sieve. 

Briquettes having a sectional area of 2^ square 
inches were then made and submerged in water for 
eight days, at the end of which time their power to 
resist tensile stress was proved. The minimum per- 
mitted was a pull of 700 lbs. ; some stood a stress of 
3000 lbs., or about i J tons, without breaking ; but 
the average resistance was about 1000 lbs. 

All cement used in the Forth Bridge foundation 
had to undergo equally severe tests ; for we read that 

262 



The Manchester Ship Canal 

the contractors required a briquette of i square inch 
section to resist a pull of 400 lbs. at the end of seven 
days. In fact, owing to the large amounts now used, 
cement for all important works is submitted to a 
rigorous system of testing and analysis before being 
accepted from the manufacturers. 

The Manchester and Salford Docks, which com- 
mence at Mode Wheel Locks, have an area of 104 
acres, 152 acres of quay space, and a frontage of 
5 miles. These figures are, however, only temporary, 
since new docks are in course of construction. Dock 
No. 9, will alone have a frontage of over a mile, and 
Dock No. 10 will be of almost equal dimensions. 
The quays carry sheds and warehouses, rising to seven 
storeys, and over 30 miles of railway sidings. They 
are equipped with steam, hydraulic, and electric 
cranes and other appliances for quick dispatch. 
There is also a grain elevator of 40,000 tons 
capacity. 

That, owing to the huge expenditure incurred by 
the Company, the shareholders of ordinary stock do 
not find their investments profitable, will be evident 
enough on reference to the quotations of the money 
market. At the same time, it would be a great mis- 
take to condemn this magnificent engineering achieve- 
ment as a commercial white elephant. 

We must remember that the Ship Canal is in direct 
communication with the whole of the inland naviga- 
tions of the country ; that the area to and from which 
the canal traffic is carted contains 2| million people, 

263 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

and that in the districts nearer to the Canal than to 
any other ocean steamship port is found a fifth of the 
population of the British Isles. 

A city far inland has become a seaport, with facili- 
ties equal to any on the coast, and this in spite of 
great opposition from rival interests and almost in- 
superable physical obstacles. Why ? Because Man- 
chester is the centre of one of England's greatest 
industries, which, owing to its natural position, was 
severely handicapped in competition with other pro- 
gressive countries by the cost of transport to and from 
the ocean ports. If Manchester meant to hold her 
own, freights must be delivered at her very doors, 
unbroken, since ^' breaking bulk '' often ate up the 
manufacturer's profits. The reduction in cost of 
transport and handling the 6,000,000 tons of cotton 
imported annually into the Manchester district 
has amounted to ;^5oo,ooo sterling; and the total 
benefit, under this heading, to the community 
may be reckoned at more than double that 
sum. 

A most eloquent testimony to the usefulness of the 
Canal is the external change that has come over the 
face of Manchester. Previously to 1880 the city 
showed decided traces of incipient decay. Many 
large works were moving to Glasgow and other ports, 
where they could save the excessive costs of carriage ; 
empty warehouses boded the migration of trade. 
Since the opening of the Canal, new industries have 
started at the terminus and along the banks, the de- 

264 



The Manchester Ship Canal 

serted mills and warehouses again teem with life, 
miles of new streets have been laid out, and renewed 
activity is seen on all sides. 

The traffic returns increase steadily from year to 
year. In 1896 the whole receipts from the Ship 
Canal Department were ;^i82,ooo, in 1902 they had 
risen to ;^358,49i, or nearly double. In 1896 the 
profits were ^^65, in 1902 ;^i4o,955. These figures 
show that, though large accessions of traffic bring 
an increase in expenditure, that increase is not in 
proportion to the tonnage. 

The Directors of the Company do their utmost 
to encourage merchants to use their Canal. Al- 
ready suggestions have been made for deepening 
the Canal a couple of feet to accommodate vessels 
of 11,000 tons capacity — double the size of the largest 
cargo steamer afloat when the Act was obtained in 
1885 for the construction of the Canal. Established 
lines of steamers ply between Manchester, America, 
the Mediterranean, and other parts of the world. As 
recently as January 1903 a regular fortnightly service 
was inaugurated with Boston ; and the number of 
monthly sailings steadily augments. 

Whatever may be the future fortunes of the Canal, 
nothing can detract from the public-spirited policy 
that brought it to completion, or from the skill and 
perseverance of its engineers. When Macaulay's New 
Zealander of the future has wearied of gazing upon 
the ruins of St. Paul's from the broken arches of 
London Bridge, he might with profit turn his steps 

265 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

to the north. We feel confident that after a journey 
from end to end of the Canal, even if its channel has 
silted in, and its locks and wharves have fallen into 
decay, his verdict will be, ''the people that did this 
work must have been a mighty race/' 



266 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE PANAMA CANAL 

It is interesting to observe how considerate and at the 
same time unkind Nature has been to man, in her 
mode of moulding the earth's surface and in the dis- 
tribution of sea and land. 

She appears to have been undecided as to the relative 
advantages of an isthmus and a strait. At Suez she 
almost severed Asia from Africa, and then at the very 
last moment left a narrow neck of sandy desert. In 
Greece she ordained that the two portions should be 
connected so that men might pass from the one to 
the other dry-shod. Then with sudden whim she 
separated Africa from Europe at Gibraltar, cut Great 
Britain off from the Continent, while, on the farther 
side of the Atlantic, the two Americas were permitted 
to keep a gentle grip on one another at Panama. 

It would, perhaps, be difficult to decide whether, 
taking human history as a whole, the junction of land 
with land has proved more useful than the union of 
sea with sea ; whether the Gibraltar gap has benefited 
the Mediterranean countries more than it has hampered 
Spain and North-West Africa ; whether the Bosphorus 
and Dardanelles have advanced Russia more than 
they have retarded Turkey and Asia Minor ; whether 

267 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Egyptian civilisation gained or lost by the sandy strip 
at Suez ; whether the Central American neck was or 
was not a boon to the continents it connects. 

One thing is certain, that, as soon as a nation takes 
to the sea, it feels the shackles of a neighbouring 
isthmus. The Pharaohs endeavoured to join the Nile 
to the Red Sea. Xerxes and Nero in turn tried to 
breach the Isthmus of Corinth. 

During the last fifty years uninterrupted land com- 
munication has been repeatedly sacrificed to the 
waterway, at Suez, at Corinth, in the Danish Peninsula, 
in Holland, since the shortening of a voyage by 
hundreds, or maybe thousands, of miles, far more 
than counterbalances the inconvenience of confining 
road and rail traffic to a few bridges. 

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 i^arks an 
important epoch in the world's commercial history, 
one fraught, too, with great political importance. 
East and West could now join hands by sea without 
having to embrace the Cape of Good Hope. England 
and India are now but weeks instead of months apart. 

The story of the Suez Canal has been told so often 
that a brief recapitulation will here suffice. Its central 
figure is M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, who resembled 
the great Brunei in the magnitude of his schemes, and 
like him was led by the energy of his genius into mis- 
calculations of the cost of his projects. In spite of 
discouragement, technical, political, and financial, M. 
Lesseps insisted that his plan was practical, and that 
the desert sand could be kept at bay by dredgers when 

268 



The Panama Canal 

once the channel had been completed and filled with 
water. By employing the latest mechanical con- 
trivances he pushed forward a cutting, 75 feet wide 
at bottom, from the fine harbour specially built at 
Port Said, through the shallows of Lake Menzaleh, 
across 15 miles of desert, through Lake Balah, 
and more desert, to the long Bitter Lakes, whence a 
third stretch penetrated sandy waste to Suez. 

During the six months that intervened between the 
opening of the Canal and the outbreak of the Franco- 
Prussian War of 1870, M. de Lesseps was the hero of 
Europe. The newspapers with one consent sang his 
praises. Crowned heads smiled upon him. Honours 
fell fast and thick. Wherever he went banquets and 
entertainments were his portion, especially in England, 
the country that benefited most by the successful con- 
clusion of his enterprise. 

But Nemesis was pursuing the over-fortunate en- 
gineer. Like Marius, the saviour of Rome, he was 
destined to outlive his reputation, and feel the bitter- 
ness of a fall from hero-worship to degradation in the 
eyes of his countrymen. 

His star had, unknown to him, begun to set when 
he first cast eyes on the narrow Isthmus of Panama. 
Since Nunez de Balboa discovered the Pacific in 15 13, 
that barrier between the oceans had already been the 
subject of many plans for connecting the Atlantic and 
the Pacific. In the sixteenth century Gomera the 
historian suggested a canal, which was also part of 
the projects of William Paterson, the founder of the ill- 

269 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

starred Darien scheme of 1695. During the eighteenth 
century the piercing of the isthmus was discussed in 
Spain and elsewhere by men too numerous to mention. 
But only after the revolution in commercial relations 
throughout the world, produced by the opening of 
the Suez Canal, did there appear any chance of trans- 
forming design into fact. 

In 1850-1855 an American company constructed a 
railway from Colon — formerly Aspinwall — on the 
Atlantic to Panama on the Pacific coast, at a cost of 
;^2,5oo,ooo. Mr. A. Gallenga, writing in 1880, thus 
describes the country through which it passes : '' The 
traveller has hardly left Colon five minutes before he 
finds himself wafted through the tangle of a primeval 
forest, by turns a swamp, a jungle, a savannah, yet a 
garden and a paradise ; a strange jumble of whatever 
Nature can muster most varied, most gorgeous in 
colours, and sweetest in odours to delight a man's 
senses. Colon is built on a marshy island, separated 
from the mainland by a creek^ which the train crosses 
soon after quitting the station. For a little while the 
land lies low, soaked at this season with green or 
yellow fever-breeding stagnant water, the surface of 
which is carpeted all over with those floating plants 
which the gardener's skill rears with infinite pains in 
English hothouses. But soon the ground rises and 
breaks up into gentle knolls, so densely wooded as to 
make the country round one impervious mass of 
green. The rank, hopelessly intricate vegetation 
invades every inch of space, pressing close to the very 

270 



The Panama Canal 

rails of the line, and in deep cuttings, or in the hollows 
of the valleys, hanging so intrusively over it that in 
some places the company must be at no little trouble 
to make good its right of way, well aware that were 
it to slacken its exertions the whole track would be 
speedily obliterated. There is nothing imagination 
can conjure up to match the variety of the green hues, 
the vividness of the wild flowers of that virgin forest ; 
nothing to equal the chaos of that foliage, as roots, 
stems, and branches crowd upon and struggle with 
one another, the canopy overhead being further 
tangled by hosts of lianes and other trailing parasites, 
blending leaf with leaf and thread with thread, like 
the warp and woof of a carpet." ^ 

Since the railway route will be the subject of the 
following pages — as materially the same as that 
selected for the Panama Canal — its physiographic 
features may be also briefly noted. The isthmus 
between Colon and Panama witnesses a diminution 
of the ''backbone of the Americas" — the Rockies and 
Andes — to an elevation scarcely worthy the name of 
a hill. On the Colon side the country for 20 
miles rises very gradually ; on the Pacific slope the 
ascent is more abrupt, reaching its highest point of 
333 feet above sea-level in the now notorious Cerro 
de Culebra, and then sinking, with occasional upward 
gradients, to San Pablo. At Obispo the rail encounters 
the river Chagres, the course of which it follows at 
intervals northwards to Gatun, where the two separate 

^ "South America," by A. Gallenga. 
271 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

at right angles. The influence of the river and 
Culebra Hill on the construction of the canal will 
presently be noticed. 

In 1850 a treaty known as the Clayton-Bulwer was 
signed between the United States and Great Britain 
guaranteeing the neutrality of any canal cut across 
the isthmus. Twenty-six years later the French, 
elated by the success of the Suez Canal, organised in 
Paris an association to survey the isthmus with re- 
gard to the feasibility of a ship canal. A lieutenant 
in the French Army, M. Lucien N. Bonaparte-Wyse, 
was despatched to Central America to make the 
necessary investigations, and approach the Colombian 
Government on the subject of a concession to the 
association of rights to carry out his recommenda- 
tions. The Government granted a charter whereby 
the grantees obtained ^* the free cession of all public 
lands required for the construction and service of the 
canal, of a belt of land 219 yards wide on each side 
of its banks throughout the entire length, and ij 
million acres in localities to be chosen by the com- 
pany.'' The concession was to endure for 99 years 
from the opening of the canal, after which period the 
canal would become the absolute property of the 
Government. The following conditions were, how- 
ever, imposed: (a) That the rights could not be 
transferred to any nation or foreign government ; 
(6) that the canal should be finished within twelve 
years of the formation of a constructive company. 

When M. Wyse returned to Europe with his plans 

272 



I 




« 
u 















The Panama Canal 

and treaty, M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, now seventy- 
five years of age, was chosen chairman of a Committee, 
and at once organised an International Congress to 
discuss the several schemes for constructing a ship 
canal. The chairman urged the adoption of a canal 
at sea level, which would resemble the Suez in its ease 
of navigation. It may be observed that several of the 
delegates strongly recommended a canal with locks. 

The authority and enthusiasm of Lesseps, however, 
carried the day, and the public was invited to sub- 
scribe 400,000,000 francs. But investors hung back 
until after the chairman had personally visited the 
isthmus and decided the route of the Canal, when 
600,000 shares of 500 francs each were quickly taken 
up. ''Thus was born an Association destined to 
impoverish thousands of thrifty families, to besmirch 
the fair name of a great nation, to lead it to the verge 
of revolution, and rob it of any pride and glory in the 
completion of a work of world-wide utility and im- 
portance." ^ To those who review the situation, how 
pathetic it appears — upwards of 200,000 people in- 
vesting, many their little all, in an undertaking fore- 
doomed by peculation and corruption to failure ; the 
famous engineer leading this great band of investors 
to a common ruin, as in 1870 Napoleon had drawn 
out his troops to meet disaster at the hands of the 
Prussians ; the struggle against misfortune after mis- 
fortune ; the final financial Sedan, that left behind it 

^ Mr. J. G. Leigh in " Traction and Transmission," February 1903. 

273 S 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

'* memories scarcely less bitter than those of the 
annee terrible j 1870-71." 

The period 1881-88 makes sad reading in the 
history of the Canal, In 1880 M. de Lesseps esti- 
mated the total cost at 843 million francs (;^34, 000,000). 
The following year he placed the figures at ;^2o,5oo,ooo, 
in 1885 at ;^28,ooo,oo. By 1886 ^^31,000,000 had been 
spent, by 1887 ;^40,ooo,ooo. When the crash came 
the total share and loan capital actually raised had 
reached the enormous total of 2,000,000,000 francs, 
and the work was not a quarter done ! 

The causes of this gigantic disaster, that desolated 
thousands of humble French homes, are manifold. 
First, the deadly climate, pithily described as that 
of two seasons — the wet, when people die of yellow 
fever in four or five days, and the dry, when people 
die of pernicious fever in from twenty-four to thirty- 
six hours. During two seasons the daily burial rate 
averaged thirty to forty, and that for weeks together. 

Then the dishonesty of those in high places — which 
came out in the subsequent trials — and the misappro- 
priation of funds and wilful waste. ''The expendi- 
ture," says Dr. Nelson, '' had been something simply 
colossal. One Director-General lived in a mansion 
that cost over ^£20,000 ; his pay was ;^io,ooo a year ; 
and every time he went out on the line he had his 
emplacement^ which gave him the liberal sum of £\o 
a day additional. . . . One Canal chief had had built 
a famous pigeon-house while I was on the isthmus 
recently. It cost the Company ;£3000. Another man 

274 



The Panama Canal 

had built a bath-house on the most approved prin- 
ciples^ This cost ;^8ooo. . . . Five milHon dollars have 
been spent in creating a very pretty, well-kept tropical 
town at Christophe Colomb. Sidings are covered 
with valuable engines and all kinds of movable 
plant, which are out in all weathers and going to ruin." 
Equally fatal were the physical obstacles afforded 
by the Culebra Hill and the river Chagres. ^'The 
summit cut on the axis of the Canal for about half a 
mile has an average cutting of loo metres (330 feet), 
or 360 feet from the bottom of the Canal, The width 
of this cut (being on the hillside) at the surface of 
the ground is about 300 metres (904 feet), and the 
depth for a few hundred feet on the highest point 
in this cross section is about 164 metres (538 feet) 
from the bed of the canal/' ^ In 1888 only 34 million 
cubic metres had been excavated out of an estimated 
total of 161 million cubic metres, and of the material 
removed four-fifths was soft and easily worked. The 
Culebra section — of hard rock — had been scarcely 
touched, and it was calculated that 470 million francs 
would still have to be disbursed for the completion of 
it. An equal amount must also be devoted to the 
taming of the Chagres, the river that crossed the 
course of the Canal no less than twenty-nine times. 
The Chagres, like all tropical streams, is liable to 
sudden and excessive fluctuations. The original 
scheme included the damming of the river at Gam- 

^ M. Charles Colne in a paper read before the Franklin Institute, New 
York, 1884. 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

boa, and a diversion that should discharge it into 
Colon Bay. The height of the dam was to be 150 
feet above the bed of the river, and its cost about 
;^4,ooo,ooo. The diversion channels, 25 miles long, 
had a dimension almost equal to that of the canal 
proper, in order to carry off the freshets resulting 
from a rainfall of sometimes 6 inches a day ! Some 
idea of the body of water such a fall entails will be 
gained from the fact that in November 1879 the 
Panama railway was covered to a depth of nearly 
18 feet for about 30 miles ! 

In 1888 M. de Lesseps reluctantly abandoned his 
original scheme of a sea-level canal in favour of one 
with locks, which would reduce largely the amount of 
excavation in the Culebra cutting. But public con- 
fidence had been shaken, and after his compulsory 
resignation of the chairmanship in 1889, the share- 
holders resolved that the Company should go into 
liquidation. The liquidators at once took measures 
to bring some sort of order into the financial chaos, 
and to organise a new Company. The Colombian 
Government enacted that the latter should have ten 
years, dating from 1894, in which to complete its 
enterprise. 

The plans were now drastically altered. By means 
of an embankment across the valley of the Chagres 
near Bohio the country between that place and 
Obispo would be converted into a huge lake, to 
serve as part of the canal and a reservoir for the 
storage of flood water. In case of need a second 

276 



The Panama Canal 

dam would be added at Alhajuela, 9 miles above 
Obispo. A waste weir was to carry off the surplus 
water of the new lake into a special channel ; and 
the lake itself would be reached from the lower levels 
by four locks on the Pacific side at Paraiso, Pedro 
Miguel, and Mirafiores, and by an equal number on 
the Atlantic side at Bohio and Obispo. This scheme 
would entail the diversion of the railway for a dis- 
tance of 31 miles to skirt the lake ; and a total 
expenditure of over ;^20,ooo,ooo. 

Work on the Canal was never stopped. At its slackest 
times more than 1000 men found employment. From 
1 899-1902 the working force averaged 2200 men, so 
that the picture of plant and excavations left entirely 
to the tender mercies of Nature must be written down 
as an unpleasant fiction. 

While the new Company was quietly pursuing its 
programme the United States had instituted surveys 
of the Nicaragua-Costa-Rica Canal region, in order 
to humour the patriotic cry for a States-owned and 
controlled inter-oceanic canal. In 1899, however, 
all bills for the construction of a Nicaraguan Canal 
were rejected in favour of a measure providing for 
further investigation of the whole question — including 
the survey of the isthmus — de novo. The President, 
Mr. M'Kinley, acting on powers conferred, appointed 
a Commission of nine members, which in 1901 recom- 
mended the construction of a canal through Lake 
Nicaragua, with a total length of 183! miles, the cost 
to be about ;^40,ooo,ooo. 

277 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

This alarmed the Panama stockholders, and in 
1902 they decided to offer their property and con- 
cessions to the United States in consideration of a 
sum of $40,000,000. Public opinion being then com- 
pletely reversed by this offer, the President was 
authorised to acquire for the United States, at a cost 
not exceeding the sum demanded, all the rights and 
privileges, unfinished work, plant, and other property, 
of the New Panama Company on the isthmus, in- 
cluding the railway; to acquire from the Republic 
of Colombia exclusive and perpetual control of a 
strip of land not less than six miles wide from the 
Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean ; and to construct 
a canal of such depth and capacity as would afford 
convenient passage to ships of the greatest tonnage 
and draught then in use. 

Thus ended the second chapter in the history of 
the Canal, and France, through the grievous mis- 
management in the period 1880-88, 'Most an oppor- 
tunity of acquiring influence in Central America, and 
upon the American continent generally, which in all 
probability will never again fall within her grasp." 

Colombia had still to be reckoned with. As long 
as the Nicaraguan scheme was seriously entertained 
by the United States the Bogota Government showed 
itself most anxious to concede almost anything that 
might be asked. But when the offer of the Canal 
had been made by the Company these professions 
ceased, and harder terms were demanded. Colombia 
continued to haggle for conditions that the States 

278 



The Panama Canal 

could not grant. Her pecuniary demands were satis- 
fied by a compromise, and her nominal sovereignty 
preserved by a diplomatic fiction. But before the 
United States Government could commit itself to 
so prodigious an undertaking as the completion of 
the Canal, it naturally enough required a guarantee 
that its occupation of the Canal territory should be 
permanent. The offer of the Canal Company having 
being formally accepted in February 1903, a treaty 
was signed by the States in the following month, as 
the result of energetic measures on the part of Presi- 
dent Roosevelt, and all that remains to be done at 
the time of writing these lines is its ratification by 
the Colombian Government before work on the Canal 
can be definitely undertaken by the Americans. 

The Commission appointed in 1899 rejected the 
sea-level scheme of M. de Lesseps as entailing a com- 
puted expenditure of ;^48,ooo,ooo for the completion 
of the Canal. In its place they suggested a modifi- 
cation of the plans laid before the new Company 
in 1894, which would require an outlay of about 
;^30,ooo,ooo. 

The Project for Completion 

In deciding the dimensions of the Canal the United 
States Commission considered the future rather than 
the present types of the world's shipping. Though 
cargo vessels do not in the main increase their length 
and beam so rapidly as passenger fast liners, their 
individual tonnage very sensibly augments from year 

279 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

to year, since experience proves that large cargoes 
are handled more economically than small. 

The depth of the Canal was therefore fixed at 35 
feet throughout, and the minimum bottom width at 
150 feet. In Panama Bay the width will be increased 
to 200 feet, though at high tide there will be a channel 
320 feet wide. The side slopes will vary between i 
to I in soft earth and 4 to i in hard rock. On curves, 
where more steering room is required, the channel 
will be broadened in proportion to the diminution 
of the radius of the curve. 

The locks, of which five flights are included in the 
plans, will raise vessels from the two end sea-level 
sections to the central stretch, 2 if miles long, extend- 
ing from Bohio to Pedro San Miguel. This section, 
which includes the Culebra-Emperador cutting, will 
have a bottom level 47 feet above mean sea level, so 
that the two locks at Bohio will give a united lift of 
some 82 to 90 feet, according to the altitude of the 
surface of the central reach. On the Pacific side the 
transference will be made by two locks at Pedro San 
Miguel and one at Miraflores. 

The locks are to be doubled at every step, so as 
to permit simultaneous travel in both directions, and 
obviate any total cessation of traffic, in case of repairs 
to any one lock being necessary. They will have a 
clear length of 740 feet, a width of 84 feet, and a 
depth equal to that of the canal over the sills. For 
the quicker passage of small vessels a subdivision by 
intermediate gates is contemplated. All locks will be 

280 



The Panama Canal 

founded on rock, walled with concrete, and fed by 
culverts through which water will rush at a maximum 
speed of 40 miles an hour — a severe test of the quality 
of the lining. 

It has been mentioned above that the two greatest 
difficulties encountered on the Canal by the De Lesseps 
Company were the stemming of the river Chagres and 
the piercing of the rocky eminence at Culebra. The 
American scheme for overcoming these obstacles is 
distinguished by its boldness of design, and the oppor- 
tunity that it will afford for a remarkable display of 
engineering skill. 

At Bohio the course of the Chagres will be crossed 
by a dam thrown from side to side of the valley. The 
effect of this dam must be to pen up the waters until 
a lake is formed, rapidly increasing its area as it 
becomes deeper. It has been calculated that, with an 
annual traffic of 10,000,000 tons, there will be required 
for the working of the locks an average supply of 1063 
cubic feet per second. The annual average flow of 
the Chagres is about 3200 cubic feet per second, but 
at the dry season it decreases to less than one-sixth 
of this amount. The United States Commission 
therefore decided that the lake should be of such 
dimensions as to afford storage for 3,654,720,000 cubic 
feet, the total deficiency during the three months of 
February, March, and April, in addition to the amount 
requisite to maintain a channel of a minimum depth 
of 35 feet. The height of the dam will therefore be 
such as to withstand a head of 90 feet of water, its 

281 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

top having an elevation of loo feet above mean sea 
level. 

As the water collected by the lake would naturally 
flow off at the lowest point after attaining a certain 
depth, it has been determined to bar that point — near 
the head of the Rio Gigante — by a weir, the height of 
which will be 85 feet above mean sea level. When 
the water of the lake is even with the crest of the 
weir it will cover 38^ square miles ; but in time of 
heavy flood, with a discharge 5 feet deep over the 
weir crest, the area will be enlarged to 43 square 
miles. 

The water pouring over the weir, which is to be 
2000 feet long, will pass into artificial channels, con- 
necting a succession of swamps until the neighbour- 
hood of Gatun is reached, where it will once again 
enter the bed of the Chagres. 

The most important feature of this scheme is the 
great Bohio Dam. At the summit 2546 feet long, it 
will have a total height above the foundations of 228 
feet on its centre line, where the earth-work forming 
the bulk of the construction is to be reinforced by a 
masonry core driven down to hard rock. *' The earth 
faces are designed to have mean slopes of one vertical to 
three horizontal, broken by benches, each 6 feet wide. 
Although it is necessary to pave only the up-stream 
face, it is probable that both faces will be revetted 
with rock spoil from the site of the Bohio locks. The 
masonry core would be 30 feet thick at and below 
— 30 {i.e. 30 feet below sea level), tapering from that 

282 



The Panama Canal 

level to 8 feet at the top. The proposed method of 
construction involves many novel and untried features, 
the extension of pneumatic work to probably unprece- 
dented depths, and special details in making tight 
joints between the caissons. The difficulties, very 
great under ordinary circumstances, will probably 
be considerably enhanced by climatic and other 
surroundings,"^ 

It is calculated that the construction of this enor- 
mous barrier will entail the removal and placing in 
position of 2,200,000 million cubic yards of material, 
of which nearly 300,000 cubic yards will be represented 
by concrete. The cost, ;^i, 2 10,235, will equal that 
of the Nile Dam, and the cubical contents of both 
are about the same. 

^The creation of the lake will of course enormously 
decrease the amount of excavation originally estimated 
by M. de Lesseps. Yet a huge quantity of quarrying 
will be necessary at the famous Emperador-Culebra 
cutting, where the bottom of the Canal will still be 286 
feet below the natural surface of the ground. To 
quote Mr. Leigh once more, ^' From many points of 
view the Emperador-Culebra cuttings may be regarded 
as unique in the annals of engineering, for never has 
the hand of man essayed a task of like character and 
more striking dimensions. ... It involves labour 
necessarily costly and prolonged, and its main interest 
to engineers centres in the remarkable opportunity 
which the undertaking will afford for organisation, 

^ Mr. J. G. Leigh in ** Traction and Transmission." 

283 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

methods, and tools specially adapted to the work. 
• . . The amount of excavation involved in the com- 
pletion of the cutting is estimated at about 43,237,200 
cubic yards, or nearly 45 per cent, of the aggregate of 
all classes of material which must be removed prior to 
the opening of the waterway. It is believed that by 
methods of excavation usually resorted to, the cutting 
can be completed in eight years, exclusive of a period 
of two years for preparation and unforeseen delays." 

Much of the excavation will be through rock, but 
the strata of clay encountered will require an equal 
expenditure in labour, as their unstable nature necessi- 
tates the lining of the slopes throughout the entire 
length of the cutting with masonry retaining-walls, 
built nearly vertically on a series of broad ledges, 
rising one above the other on either flank. The 
Panama railroad, which must be rebuilt for 15^ miles 
between Bohio and Obispo to avoid the lake, will, 
after passing the latter town, run for six miles or so 
along one of the ledges on the east side of the 
cutting. 

Out of the $144,233,258 to be devoted to the com- 
pletion of the Canal, the 6 miles of deepest cutting 
will consume 142,000,000, more than the aggregate 
cost of the Bohio dam, all the locks, the Gigante 
weir, and the other work to be done between Bohio 
and Miraflores. Had Nature but omitted the Cerro 
de Culebra from her scheme, it is probable that for 
years past vessels would have crossed from ocean to 
ocean. 

284 



The Panama Canal 

At Colon a large harbour will be built to im- 
prove the entrance to the Canal and protect it 
from the ''northers" of the Gulf of Mexico. At 
the Panama end 4I miles of dredging will be 
requisite to carry the Canal to the 6-fathom line in 
the bay. 

The time occupied by vessels in passing through 
the Canal will vary with their size, the permissible 
speed decreasing with the increase of a ship's tonnage. 
It has been calculated that, allowing 5^ hours for 
lockage, the Pacific and Atlantic will be but 11 J to 
14J hours apart, according to the dimensions of the 
steamer. 

The projected Nicaraguan Canal — now finally 
abandoned — would have had a length of 187 miles 
between Greytown on the Caribbean Sea and Brito 
on the Pacific. Of this distance the lake would 
occupy 70 miles, and the canalised San Juan River an 
equal proportion. It was proposed to dam the San 
Juan at Conchuda, and so throw some 50 miles of its 
course into the same level as the lake — 104 to no 
feet above mean sea level. Four locks between Con- 
chuda and an equal number between the lake and 
Brito were to transfer the traffic from the lower to the 
higher level. 

The disadvantages attaching to this route were : 
(a) the cost, double of that required for the comple- 
tion of the Panama Canal ; (d) the great difficulty of 
controlling so large a body of water as Lake Nicar- 
agua ; (c) the large number of locks, combining with 

285 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

the total length of the Canal to make {d) the passage 
of the Canal a matter of at least thirty hours. Under 
this latter head it may be noticed that though the 
distance from San Francisco to New York is 377 miles 
greater vid Panama than by Nicaragua, the duration 
of the journey by water would be about the same in 
both cases. 

There cannot be the least doubt that the United 
States have acted prudently in surrendering all ideas 
of a canal constructed throughout by Yankee capital 
and engineers, and deciding to bend their efforts to 
the completion of a work partially carried out by the 
ill-starred French Companies. 

What will be the effects of the perfected Canal on 
the commerce of the globe it is indeed hard to cal- 
culate. But that it will prove an immense stimulus 
to inter-oceanic trade, by breaching the 9000-mile 
barrier of the American continent at the most con- 
venient point, is not to be doubted. The States, as 
controllers of the Canal, will gain an immense strategic 
advantage, since they will be able to throw their fleet 
from one ocean to the other as required. Further- 
more, all their ports will benefit largely, since those 
on the west will then command a shortened route 
to Africa, and those on the east be much nearer the 
East Asian markets than formerly. In fact, for all 
practical purposes, Panama will be the great gateway 
between the East and the West. 

Yet the Canal will not command a monopoly of 
the carrying trade across Central America, since a 

286 



The Panama Canal 

rival is already in the field, and what is more, actually 
at work. 

In the south of Mexico, east of the Yucatan pro- 
montory, the two oceans are within i6o miles of each 
other. The great Cortes, having vainly sought a 
natural channel, conceived the idea of constructing 
a carriage road across this comparatively narrow 
neck, so as to put Spain in communication with the 
spice islands of the East Indies. He accordingly 
bought up land on the Coatzacoalcos River and 
round Tehuantepec — from which the isthmus takes 
its name — with an eye to profit by the road ; which 
was, however, not actually made until five centuries 
later, when the discovery of gold in California, and 
the dangers of travel across the northern prairies, 
rendered such an undertaking an absolute necessity. 

At a later date Captain Eads proposed a railway 
over which ships should be transported bodily from 
ocean to ocean, borne on trucks running over several 
parallel tracks, each furnished with one or more 
locomotives. The vessel was to be transferred to 
land from the water by means of a pontoon carrying 
a cradle furnished with wheels running on six lines 
of rails. As soon as the pontoon had been raised 
to the height at which its rails and those on shore 
were on the same level, the cradle and its ship would 
be moved from the one set to the other, and all 
would be ready for the land journey. It is needless 
to follow the details of the scheme further, as it 
proved abortive. 

287 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

In 1895 the Mexican Government completed an 
ordinary-type railroad across theTehuantepec Isthmus, 
from Coatzacoalcos on the north to Salina Cruz on 
the south. But owing to the lack of proper terminal 
harbours the traffic on either track was disappointing. 
At that time Sir Weetman Pearson — head of the 
London firm of S. Pearson & Son — was engaged in 
the wonderful harbour of Vera Cruz, described at 
length elsewhere in these pages. He entered into an 
agreement with the Government for improving matters 
in the isthmus ; the Mexican authorities undertaking 
to expend ^3,000,000 on the harbours, and an addi- 
tional ;£500,ooo on the railway ; his firm to carry out 
the contracts and furnish whatever money might be 
further necessary to put the line in first-class working 
order. This partnership will last for fifty years, after 
which period the whole of the property will pass 
under the sole control of the Government. The latter 
on its part binds itself not to grant during this time 
any concession for the construction of other railways 
and ports within 30 miles of the Tehuantepec works ; 
but it reserves the right of employing any ships of 
the Company in event of war in consideration of a 
monthly remuneration ; and of transporting coal, 
troops, and immigrants at reduced rates; mails to 
be carried free. 

The railroad crosses the isthmus at the narrowest 
part of Mexico, covering a distance of only 192 miles, 
so that freight received from one ocean will be able to 
be shipped in the other ocean within the short space 

288 



MiUi, 



CARR IBEAN 
SEA 




Panama 



PACIFIC OCEAN 



Reproduced by permission o/] [the Proprietors o/" Traction and Transmission." 

The American Plan for completing the Panama Canal. 

iTo face p. 288. 



The Panama Canal 

of twenty-four hours. Owing to necessary windings 
in places, the road is 50 miles longer than a straight 
line between the extreme points. In spite of the 
fact that the country in some parts, particularly on the 
Pacific side, reaches an altitude of 3000 feet, the highest 
elevation of the track is but 852 feet above sea-level. 

The harbour works are expected to be completed 
in 1904, when the terminal ports of Coatzacoalcos 
and Salina Cruz will be converted into first-class 
sea-ports, accessible in all weathers. At the former 
place the natural harbour is good, but there is only 
15 feet of water on the bar at low tide. Dredging 
operations are being carried on to give the channel 
a depth of from 30 to 40 feet. Along the river front 
quays two-thirds of a mile in length are being con- 
structed. At Salina Cruz very extensive works are 
necessary, as the port has to be constructed in an 
open bay, with breakwaters similar to those of Vera 
Cruz. The Mexican Government intends to make the 
towns worthy to be called inter-oceanic route stations, 
and to render them as healthy as possible by a pure 
water-supply and enforced regulations for the paving 
and cleansing of the streets. 

The Government has granted a concession to Sir 
Weetman Pearson to construct a line from Ojapa on 
the Tehuantepec Railway to Alvarado on the river 
San Juan, which is already in direct communication 
with Mexico City vid Vera Cruz. There will thus be 
two ports on the Gulf from which goods can be for- 
warded to Salina Cruz on the Pacific. 

289 T 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

The prospects of the Tehuantepec Railway may be 
deduced from the following considerations. In the 
first place, the Tehuantepec Isthmus is 1300 miles 
north of Panama, and therefore much nearer the trade 
centres of the United States than the Canal will be. 
The difference in mileage between certain points by 
the railway and by the Canal may thus be stated : — 

By Tehuantepec. By Panama. 





Miles. 


Miles, 


New York to San Francisco . 


4,925 


6,107 


New York to Honolulu . 


. 6,566 


7.705 


New York to Hong-Kong 


".597 


12,645 


Liverpool to San Francisco . 


8,274 


9,071 


New Orleans to Acapulco 


1.453 


3.983 


New Orleans to San Francisco 


S.596 


3.586 



Though Coatzacoalcos on the Atlantic is 800 miles 
south of New Orleans it is nearer than that town to 
San Francisco. 

Secondly, the sea-to-sea charges of the Panama 
Railway are about 20s. per ton ; of the United 
States Railways 60s. per ton. It is expected that 
the transference will be made on the Tehuantepec 
line for i6s. ; and if to this be added los. per 
ton as the cost of the Pacific Ocean journey from 
Salina Cruz to San Francisco, the shipper will be 
able to pass goods from the latter town to the Gulf 
at a total charge of 26s., or but one half of all- 
rail transit vid Mexico City and Vera Cruz. It is 
obvious from these figures that the Panama Railway, 

290 



The Panama Canal 

even if it reduces its charges, will not compete 
seriously with the northern route, which, at least 
until the opening of the Canal — an event not likely 
to occur for twelve years or more — will obtain the 
bulk of the ocean-to-ocean carrying trade. 

Note. — The author desires to acknowledge his indebtedness 
to two articles published in Traction and Transmission^ over 
the signature of Mr. J. G. Leigh, for information about the 
Project for Completion of the Canal ; and to Mr. J. Meldrum, 
M. Inst. CE., of Messrs. S. Pearson & Son, for particulars of 
the Tehuantepec Railway. 



291 



CHAPTER XV 

HARBOURS OF REFUGE 

The sky is dark and overcast ; the wind whistles 
fiercely ; the air is laden with spray. Nature is 
putting out her strength, lashing the sea into fury 
against all things that withstand the onset of her 
foam-crested billows, which rush landwards, heavy 
with the force gathered in open ocean. The waves 
hurl themselves again and again on the outer face 
of the breakwater, and fall back baffled on to their 
succeeding fellows. Every few seconds the charge 
is renewed, with as little effect ; for the great mass 
of granite and concrete has been well and truly laid 
by cunning engineers, well-versed in the methods of 
curbing the rage of Father Neptune. 

Outside all is roar and motion ; inside the protect- 
ing bulwark ships ride securely, heedless of the minia- 
ture wavelets that trouble the peace of the harbour. 
A few hours ago, maybe, they were breasting the 
billows, shouldering off the masses of grey water from 
bow and sides. But now, guided by skilful hands, 
they have safely passed the narrow entrance and won 
the shelter provided for them by the foresight of those 
who are responsible for the well-being of ships. 

To deal in superlatives is often risky, but we may 

292 



Harbours of Refuge 

safely premise that among the works of man the most 
romantic are those brought to a successful issue in 
salt water. The long list of failures in his struggle 
with the sea serves but to enhance his brilliant 
successes. Every time we witness a great storm 
our thoughts turn to the heroism of Winstanley and 
Smeaton toiling to fix upon secure foundations light- 
giving guardians of the coast. We picture again 
the brave Dutch busy in the breaches in their dykes, 
desperately hurling down fresh material to stem the 
threatened inundation of their low-lying plains. The 
tumbled masses of rock below yonder cliffs remind 
us how patient and terrible a foe is the sea that can 
dislodge those monster fragments from their solid 
bed. 

Perhaps we may even spare a thought for the 
engineers who planned and created the esplanade 
on which we stand. As being backed by mother 
earth it probably appeals to our imagination less 
than the breakwater waging its solitary warfare far 
to sea. But a consideration of the immense power 
of the waves, seen in the records of an instrument 
named the marine dynamometer, will show us how 
great must be the designing skill, and how thorough 
the constructive workmanship required to erect a 
structure that shall for many years defy the elements. 

The dynamometer consists of a closed cast-iron 
cylinder, which can be firmly bolted against a rock 
or other substance exposed to the violence of the 
waves. Each end is bored with a number of holes 

293 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

to accommodate several metal rods that pass right 
through, and project both ways for a certain distance. 
To the seaward extremities of the rod is attached a 
circular iron plate of known area, which, when struck 
by a wave, drives in the rods, and extends a very 
powerful steel spring inside the cylinder, at the same 
time causing leather collars to slide up the guide 
rods to indicate the amount of extension. At Skerry- 
vore Lighthouse, in the Atlantic, a force equivalent 
to nearly three tons per square foot was registered 
during a heavy gale in 1845 ; and on the coast of 
Dunbar the figures on another occasion rose to three 
and a half tons. This force was applied instan- 
taneously, of course, with sledge-hammer effect. 

The power exerted by a wave on a large surface 
must therefore be immense. We can, from these 
records, understand why great blocks are torn from 
their settings in the face of a breakwater or sea-wall : 
and why masses of concrete weighing upwards of 2000 
tons are sometimes shifted bodily from their founda- 
tions. Nor is the sea satisfied with detaching matter 
at its own level, for on storm-beaten coasts there 
may be seen large boulders weighing many tons, that 
have been quarried out of the solid rock at heights 
approaching 100 feet above high tide-mark. 

The designing of harbours is one of the most 
difficult branches of civil engineering. It is also 
one of the most important to a country like Great 
Britain, which depends for its commerce on sea-borne 
traffic. The value of a large mercantile marine would 

294 



Harbours of Refuge 

be greatly discounted by insufficient harbours ; and 
the same is true in even a greater degree of a powerful 
fighting fleet, which requires shelters on many points 
of a coast line where no great commercial activity 
may be shown. And it so happens that where nature 
has denied a refuge strategical conditions often de- 
mand that an artificial one of great extent and 
security shall be provided. 

During recent years the Great Powers have been 
very busy with the construction or extension of their 
harbours. 

The French have converted a portion of the sandy 
Calais strand into a series of fine docks and quays, 
and greatly enlarged the accommodation at Toulon 
and Rochelle. The Germans have been busy at 
Wilhelmshaven. Russia can boast the new harbours 
of Vladivostock and Port Arthur ; Italy that of 
Trieste. England may point to new works at Port- 
land, Dover, Gibraltar, Keyham, Simon's Bay, and 
Hong-Kong. 

The English harbours named are primarily strate- 
gical. Portland Harbour is one of the finest artificial 
refuges in the world. In 1847 two breakwaters were 
commenced to close the Bay, on the south and south- 
east, and completed by convict labour in 1872. The 
recent works, breakwaters 4465 and 4642 feet long, 
have been added to secure the harbour from torpedo 
attack. They consist of rubble mounds deposited 
in from 30 to 50 feet of water by special hopper 
barges. The harbour has now three entrances of an 

295 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

aggregate width of about 1800 feet in the three miles 
of protecting moles, which enclose 1500 acres of 
water 30 feet deep at low tide. 

At Dover the Admiralty is constructing a Naval 
Harbour of 610 acres, exclusive of the Commercial 
Harbour that nestles behind the same defences. The 
three breakwaters that enclose it measure 2000, 4200, 
and 3320 feet respectively ; and are built of massive 
concrete blocks, arranged so as to form a nearly 
vertical wall from the chalk at the harbour bottom 
to a point 10 feet above high water. 

At Gibraltar, works of almost equal size have pro- 
tected an area of 440 acres. The New Mole, on the 
south, has been extended for 2700 feet seawards. On 
the north the New Commercial Mole runs due west 
for about 4000 feet, and then turns southwards at 
right angles to its original course. Between the 
heads of these two moles lies the Detached Mole, 
which is a good example of modern harbour engineer- 
ing. Breakwaters in earlier days consisted usually 
of rubble mounds — heaps of large rough stones 
thrown into the sea, and left to the consolidating 
action of the waves. Sometimes on the summit of 
the mound was built a masonry wall, faced with hard 
granite. The construction of such a wall proved, 
in exposed positions, a matter of great difficulty, as 
a violent storm would often work havoc with the 
unfinished or scar end. Engineers therefore en- 
deavoured to imitate nature in substituting for co- 
hesive strength in their structures the inertia of 

296 



Harbours of Refuge 

weight of large masses. However tightly bound and 
cemented small blocks may be, water has a way of 
burrowing in between them, and splitting them apart. 
The smaller the block the larger is its surface in pro- 
portion to its cubic contents, and as every joint is 
a vulnerable point in the harness of a breakwater, the 
reduction of the number of such joints is obviously 
desirable. 

Consequently we find the harbour-builder of to- 
day handling immense blocks upwards of 50 tons in 
weight, and laying them in position by means of 
very powerful cranes called Titans. Steam, improved 
machinery, and Portland cement have revolutionised 
harbour construction. At Gibraltar the Detached 
Mole is isolated from the nearest point on shore by 
some half mile of water. The usual rubble mound 
having been formed as a foundation, a box-shaped 
steel caisson was constructed in England, shipped to 
Gibraltar, re-erected, floated out, sunk on the rubble 
mound, and filled in with concrete, so as to form 
a mass of about 9000 tons well able to resist the 
roughest buffets of the sea. The caisson measured 
loi feet in length at the bottom, and 74 at the top. 
It was 33 feet wide, and 48 J feet deep. 

Having thus provided themselves with an artificial 
rock from which to commence block-setting opera- 
tions, the engineers installed a Titan crane. This 
monster could handle blocks weighing 36 tons at a 
radius of 75 feet and less ; and yet was not the 
largest of its kind, for Titans are in use which will 

297 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

pick up a 50-ton block and lay it anywhere within 
100 feet of the central pivot. 

The Titan is, in general design, a very powerful 
balanced girder or cantilever, swinging horizontally 
on the summit of a lofty framework provided with 
wheels to run on a line of broad gauge. On the 
one arm are stationed the boiler and winding gear 
and counterpoises to the weight to be lifted at the 
other extremity. Beneath the superstructure is a 
circular roller-path on which it revolves. Gear is 
provided which communicates motion to the track 
wheels, and renders the Titan self-moving. 

Barges bring the great concrete blocks from the 
yard, where they are made and kept a long time 
seasoning, alongside the completed portion of the 
Mole. The Titan swings round, lets fall its tackle, 
and soon has the block stacked on the wall behind 
it ready for use. As soon as the barges are empty 
the divers descend to the working face of the break- 
water to adjust the blocks as the Titan lowers them. 
The first or lowest course is the longest, that is, it 
extends farthest horizontally from the Titan, which 
when dealing with it must take full advantage of its 
great reach. Each ascending course approaches one 
step nearer to the steel giant, the top course being 
just in front of his feet. When a sufficient number 
of layers have been added rails are laid down, the 
driver connects up the steam-gear with the track- 
wheels, and the Titan rolls slowly forward a few 
paces over the blocks that a short time before were 

298 




1^ 



Harbours of Refuge 

being dangled in the air. Meanwhile a second Titan 
has found room to work back to back with its brother, 
and the work is pushed forwards in both directions 
simultaneously, until the last blocks are in position 
and Gibraltar owns a protection proof against the 
fiercest gale. 

Far away from "Gib," in the Gulf of Mexico, a 
wonderful harbour has just been completed at Vera 
Cruz, *' the great mart of European and Oriental trade, 
the commercial capital of New Spain." The spot is 
historically famous as that at which Cortes and his 
brave little army landed in 1519 to commence the 
conquest of Mexico. The roadstead was until recently 
notorious as one of the most dangerous on the Ameri- 
can coast, for the nortey or ''norther," sweeping the 
waves across the Gulf, drove many a vessel to destruc- 
tion on the coral reefs that partially encircle the bay. 
*' During a norther which blew in the year 1851, 
thirteen ships were wrecked in the Vera Cruz road- 
stead. This was no doubt an extreme incident, yet 
every ship entering Vera Cruz during the norther 
season was constantly exposed to the same fate. It 
may be said that eternal vigilance only was the price 
of safety. Every ship during the dangerous season, 
before the portworks were commenced, was obliged 
to keep up full steam in order to be able to put out to 
sea at a moment's notice on the first indication of an 
approaching norther, and had, moreover, even under 
favourable conditions of weather, constantly to keep 
its propeller gently working in order to ease the strain 

299 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

on its moorings. In addition, all loading and unload- 
ing of merchandise had to be done (when it could be 
done at all, and that was in absolutely fair weather 
only) by means of lighters, as there was no pier with 
sufficient depth of water alongside to enable ships to 
use it for loading or discharging their cargo. A very 
slight breeze was sufficient to stop all work in the port. 
The loss of time by this primitive method of handling 
cargoes was only one drawback, as the item of expense 
due to repeated handlings, loss and damage to the 
goods, was also very great. When, owing to hurry 
or the necessity of sailing at a given time, a captain 
persisted in unloading his vessel when a moderate 
breeze was blowing, it was no uncommon occurrence 
for the cargo, when craned over the vessel's side, to 
go to the bottom of the sea instead of on board the 
lighter. In a word, the visit of a vessel to Vera Cruz 
was a source of anxiety to its captain, its owners, and 
the consignees of merchandise, until the latter was safe 
on land." ^ 

But Vera Cruz had long been recognised as the 
port of Mexico on the Atlantic. To it railways ran 
from the capital far away in the mountains vid Tlax- 
cala, Puebla, Cordoba and Xalapa. Under the leader- 
ship of President Porfirio Diaz, the Maker of Mexico, 
the spirit of modern enterprise has been awakened in 
the land of the Aztecs. As soon as social and finan- 
cial order had been restored by President Diaz, public 
attention was turned to the improvement of the port. 

^ From a descriptive Memoir of Vera Cruz Port Works. 

300 



Harbours of Refuge 

In 1882, Captain Eads, the gifted American engineer, 
submitted plans for checking the fury of the "nor- 
ther " ; and in the same year the first block was laid 
in the rear of the old Castle of San Juan de Ulua. 

The accompanying plan will explain the positions 
of the various parts of this great undertaking, which 
in connection with new quays and piers cost 
^3,000,000 (|i 5,000,000). The coast-line faces N.N.E. 
To the north lies the coral reef of Gallega, on which 
rises the castle of San Juan ; to the east the Hornos 
reef, to the west the reef of La Caleta. 

Captain Eads and subsequent contractors built the 
North Mole, running north-west from San Juan ; and 
that, together with the line of " random blocks " laid 
on the north-west, constituted the sum total of opera- 
tions in 1895, when Messrs. S. Pearson & Son, of 
London, signed a contract for the completion of the 
protective works, and the conversion of Vera Cruz 
into a first-class artificial port, equal to any in the 
world, and equipped with every modern facility. 

The breakwaters include one on the north-west 
inside that of Don Agustin Cerdon referred to above, 
another on the north-east to the east of the Gallega 
reef, and a third on the south-east, extending from 
the shore to the Lavandera reef. These close the 
harbour to the sea, except between the San Juan 
Castle and the north end of the north breakwater, 
and at the port entrance between the north-east and 
south-east breakwaters. 

The north-west breakwater was completed by de- 

301 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

positing a rubble mound inside the random blocks 
already in position. Trestles (of creosoted piles) were 
first built i6 feet above low water, to carry trains 
laden with stones. As fast as the mound reached 
low-water level, it was topped with two courses of 
35-ton blocks laid by a Titan ; and these, after being 
allowed to settle for two '' norther " seasons, were 
capped with a concrete coping. This breakwater is 
1200 yards long. The north wall, which it joins, is 
a concrete monolith laid on the top of the Gallega 
reef for 550 yards. 

The north-east breakwater afforded the most diffi- 
cult part of the undertaking, since on it the storms 
burst with full violence. On one occasion a Titan 
crane, weighing over 360 tons, was carried away by a 
stiff norther and flung into the harbour, from which 
it was recovered after several unsuccessful attempts. 
The seaward face of the wall is protected by a large 
number of concrete blocks thrown in at random. The 
rubble foundation, 26 feet deep, and rising to about 
10 feet below low- water level, was carefully levelled 
by divers and surmounted by three courses of sloping 
blocks and a concrete coping. Its length is about 
800 yards, and its average width 34 yards. 

The south-east member is almost entirely rubble 
work, with a single line of blocks at its apex. This 
wall is nearly 1000 yards long. As a further means of 
defence against the prevailing south wind, the plans 
included an inner protection about 1080 yards inside 
the south-east breakwater, which forms part of, and 

302 



Harbours of Refuge 

projects at right-angles to, the town quay. The 
portion of the harbour between these two protecting 
walls is used for the anchorage of small craft. 

The harbour was cleared to a depth of 26 feet by 
means of large and powerful dredgers, and an extra 
depth of 5 feet given to a belt extending from the 
harbour entrance to the main town quay. Some of 
the sand dredged was employed to reclaim the ground 
on which the quay now stands, 430 yards from the 
natural low-water line.^ For the construction of the 
quay a trench was dredged, and a rubble stone founda- 
tion formed and carefully levelled by divers. Upon 
this the same men built up concrete blocks to a height 
of 2 feet above low water, from which level solid con- 
crete and Norwegian granite raised it to a convenient 
altitude for shipping. A number of piers for shipping 
extend into the harbour at right angles to the town 
quay : one much larger than the rest, 400 yards long 
by 108 yards broad, affording room for seven of the 
largest vessels that visit Vera Cruz to unload at the 
same time. This pier was built in the same manner 
as the quay — by first raising a solid wall round its 
outer edge, and then filling the interior with sand 
pumped from the harbour. Eight railway tracks 
traversing the quay serve to convey merchandise to 
the Mexican trunk lines. 

*'As the shipping interests of Vera Cruz increase 

^ During the dredging operations iron and stone cannon-balls, bayonets, 
sabres, pistols, arquebuses, and doubloons were constantly being brought 
up, silent reminders of the heroic days of the Spanish conquerors. 

303 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

(and assuredly they will do so rapidly), greater wharf- 
age, quayage, and storage! than the present liberal 
facilities in this respect will be necessary, and here 
again the foresight of the Government has been equal 
to the occasion, for sites have been provided for the 
construction of a practically indefinite number of new 
quays and customs warehouses. 

'' Finally, the terminal company, which is now being 
formed, and which, it is believed, will consist of the 
four railway companies operating into Vera Cruz, will 
provide such facilities, under Government supervision 
and control, that in a short time from now it will be 
no unusual thing for ships to discharge looo tons of 
freight per working day." 

So many references have been made in the above 
pages to concrete blocks that a visit to the yards 
where they were made will be interesting. The three 
yards were ij miles long. In them, on concrete 
floors carefully levelled, stand rows of great boxes 
with removable sides. Small tramways running over 
the rows convey in skips the concrete — one part of 
pure Portland cement to five or six parts of broken 
stone and sand. All day long gangs of men work 
at the mixing machines where the concrete is made 
for pouring into the box-moulds from the laden 
skips. The moulds are so many hungry maws, each 
the height of a man, and some a dozen feet long 
by 6 broad. When full, the concrete is allowed to 
solidify until it is firm enough for the box walls to 
be removed to some other part of the yard, leaving 

304 



I 




By permission ofl 



IMessrs. S. Pearson & Son. 



A Giant Crane laying ?>S-ton Blocks on one of the Breakivaters at 

Vera Cruz Harbour. 

[To face />. 304. 



Harbours of Refuge 

the giant bricks to harden until a great Goliath crane 
rolls overhead, snatches them up, and stacks them in 
readiness for transference to trucks and barges. As 
we read that 3000 tons of Portland cement were 
always kept in stock, the total weight of the contents 
of the yards may be imagined. 

Besides the artificial blocks great quantities of 
natural stone were required for the port works. The 
nearest quarries of suitable stone were at Pefiuela, 60 
miles distant on the Mexican Railway. Special 
arrangements having been made for a regular stone- 
train service, as many as 450 tons of stone were in 
busy times transported from the quarries to the 
harbour every day. Large cranes, air-compressors, 
pneumatic drills, crushing machinery, and houses for 
the accommodation of workmen had to be erected in 
the quarries, a special water-supply laid on, and 
several miles of track put down. To detach sufficient 
quantities of rock, blasting on a large scale was 
resorted to. On one occasion 40 tons of dynamite 
and powder exploded simultaneously, and broke away 
a mass calculated to contain 200,000 tons. At another 
of the large blasts the people of the village had 
assembled to witness the explosion and be included 
in the photograph taken after each important '^ shot." 
Some minutes after the explosion the people ran to 
the face of the quarry to see the effects, and en- 
countered the poisonous gas generated by the ex- 
plosive, which, owing to the sultriness of the weather, 
had not been dissipated, and hung over a considerable 

305 ^J 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

tract round the quarry. As soon as the crowd 
reached the gas-laden air-stratum they fell uncon- 
scious. Out of eighty-three persons dangerously 
affected no less than twenty-six died ; and, as though 
to heighten the tragedy, a small band of Rurales, or 
police, who had galloped to the rescue, were also 
overpowered, two of their number and all their horses 
fatally. Such an occurrence is probably unique 
among the annals of rock-blasting. It supplies the 
one dark episode in the bright chapter of a great 
work brought to a successful conclusion. 

As a result of the fine contract carried out by 
Messrs. S. Pearson & Son a vessel can ride out the 
most furious '' norther " in complete safety. Vessels 
moored alongside modern piers furnished with proper 
mechanical equipments can discharge their cargoes at 
all seasons directly into railroad cars at a fraction of 
the cost of the old system, and embark goods sent 
down to the port from all the railway-fed depots in the 
Mexican Republic. The town, covering ground once 
scourged by the dreaded vomitOy is now traversed in 
all directions by large sewers and water-mains, the 
former discharging through a pipe built in the north- 
west breakwater into deep sea beyond the Galega 
reef, the latter deriving their supplies from the 
Jamapa River. It is significant of the spirit animat- 
ing the Mexican Government that it willingly sanc- 
tioned the great expenditure necessary to complete 
these important sanitary works, and with commend- 
able foresight has made provision for a much larger 

306 



Harbours of Refuge 

population than at present inhabits the port. The 
time is not far distant when Vera Cruz will become 
the Brighton or Margate of Mexico, as well as its 
Liverpool. Here the jaded citizen of the capital will 
fill his lungs with the fresh sea breezes, bathe, row, 
stroll on the breakwater, watch the cosmopolitan 
crowd that is to be found in a busy seaport, or visit 
the antiquities of the castle of San Juan. And he will 
praise the Government when he looks round on the 
great portworks for having placed Mexico a step or 
two higher on the ladder of Progress, up which she is 
steadily climbing. 



307 



CHAPTER XVI 

OCEAN LEVIATHANS 

In 1858 the genius of Brunei sprang a wonder upon 
the world. The monster steamship constructed at 
Millwall from his designs, by Mr. Scott Russell, was 
not merely an advance upon all that had gone before, 
a Gulliver among pigmies ; she was an anachronism. 

One of the first liners to be built of iron, which was 
but slowly superseding wood, and to be driven by the 
newly developed screw, combined in this case with 
powerful paddle-wheels, the Great Eastern was also 
a sudden expansion in dimensions and capacity which 
held the record for nearly fifty years. Yet she was 
doomed from her very inception to be a gigantic 
failure, the frequent fate of enterprises born before 
their due time. 

Her keel was laid on May i, 1854, and after three 
years' labour, during which 30,000 iron plates were 
fastened upon the hull by means of 3,000,000 rivets, 
the great ship was ready to be launched in November 
1857. Owing to an ill-advised attempt to retard her 
motion down the slips, the chain-winding machinery 
gave way and the launch proved abortive ; but she 
was successfully floated in 1858, and took her trial 
trip down the river and round the coast. Opposite 

308 



Ocean Leviathans 

Hastings a case-pipe feeder burst, causing some loss 
of life among the crew, and doing local damage to the 
extent of several thousand pounds, one funnel being 
blown 50 feet high into the air. The vessel was 
otherwise unaffected by the shock, was found to be 
rigid and steady in a heavy sea, and finally put into 
Portland for repairs. 

In i860 her maiden voyage to New York, where 
she received an ovation, marked the beginning of an 
era. For though years elapsed before engineers 
again dared to project anything approaching the 
Great Eastern in size, it had been conclusively demon- 
strated that an iron steamship of vast proportions, 
laden with passengers and cargo, could, in spite of 
all prophecies to the contrary, triumph over the 
perils of the Atlantic and make good time as a mail 
carrier. Her very faults of design have been an 
example to guide inventors towards the masterly lines 
of our modern '' ocean greyhounds." 

The Great Eastern s accommodation was conceived 
upon a scale of magnificence hitherto undreamed of. 
Between uprights she was 680 feet long, but her 
upper deck gave 12 feet extra length ; and her width 
of 82 feet 6 inches was expanded by the platforms of 
the immense paddle-boxes to 119 feet. In height she 
towered 60 feet above her keel, half of this being 
submerged when loaded, though she drew only 20 
feet of water in ballast. Five great funnels 100 feet 
high, and six lofty tapering masts, fitted with square 
spars that carried an enormous spread of canvas, 

309 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

rose above the massive hull and rendered her the 
most imposing vessel that ever rode the seas. 

Her internal arrangements were worthy of this 
majestic exterior. She was built upon the cellular 
principle, that is, she consisted of an inner and outer 
hull, both iron-plated, some 2 feet 10 inches apart, 
up to 3 feet above the water-line ; and the interior 
was divided into nineteen separate compartments, 
twelve of which were water-tight and the others 
nearly so. Her principal saloon was 100 feet long, 
36 feet wide and 13 feet high, the whole centre 
of the ship being given up to saloon and cabin 
accommodation, carefully protected from disturbing 
noise or vibration of the engines. Fittings and 
decorations were on the most lavish scale, initiating 
the luxurious appointments of the present day. 

Eight hundred first-class passengers were provided 
for, 2000 second-class, and 1000 third-class ; while, in 
case of emergency, she could pack 10,000 troops 
on board without restricting their ordinary space for 
quarters. The ship's complement was 400 men all 
told, and the coal-bunkers carried 12,000 tons (enough 
to take her to Australia or India and back without 
re-coaling), besides the 6000 tons of cargo to be 
stowed in the holds. 

This immense weight had for motive power ten 
boilers, weighing 50 tons each, divided among 
separate sets of engines, some of which worked a 
screw-propeller 25 feet in diameter, while the others 
turned the gigantic paddle-wheels, each 56 feet across, 

310 




From a photo lent by^ 



[the White Star Liners Co. 



A Stern View of the '' Celtic " in Dry-dock. 

This huge vessel is inferior in size only to her sister ship, the Cedric. Her displacement 
is 20,900 tons. Besides 15,000 tons of cargo she carries 3,000 passengers. The size of 
her immense twin screws may be gauged by comparison \\\{\\ the man in the 
foreground. 

[To face p. 310. 



Ocean Leviathans 

and weighing 185 tons. Twelve tons of coal per hour 
were consumed, but the speed hardly exceeded 14 
knots, though a considerably better result had been 
anticipated. The i.h.p. of the paddle-engines was 
3000 normal to 5000 under full pressure, and that 
of the screw-engines could be raised from 4000 under 
ordinary pressure to 6500 when desired. 

We need not follow the Great Easterns eventful his- 
tory, which will be fresh in niost minds. How one 
steamship Company after another collapsed in em- 
ploying her for her original purpose ; then the useful 
work which she did for years as a cable-laying ship 
between England and America, India, &c. ; finally, 
her most unqualified success, when she was chartered 
as a show at Liverpool. In 1886-87, her hull and 
machinery being still quite sound, though somewhat 
"off colour'' with long neglect, she was sold piece- 
meal. An auction of scrap-iron and old timber ! 
Such is the last scene in which figures this extra- 
ordinary feat of marine engineering, after thirty years 
of such vicissitudes as surely no other ship has ever 
experienced ! Nor are any of the creations of our 
own day likely to pass through so romantically 
chequered an existence. 

The failure of Brunei's Great Eastern as a com- 
mercial speculation gave pause to other inventors for 
many years. Modest liners of 7000 to 8000 tons con- 
tinued to bear the ocean traffic, and not till 1889 
was a displacement expressed in five figures again 
attempted. A re-action, however, in the direction 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

of large passenger ships has set in and grown steadily 
since the City of PariSy with her 10,670 tons, found 
favour in 1889; and upon the memorable appearance 
of the Oceanic in 1899 ^^e Great Eastern was at last 
actually exceeded both in length and tonnage. 

Most of the great express steamers, to whatever 
nation they belong, are subsidised by their respective 
governments to be used as swift cruisers in time of 
war. They are, therefore, so constructed that the 
concussion of heavy artillery may not endanger their 
stability, while the double bottom and water-tight 
compartments reduce the results of any accident to 
the hull to a minimum. The framework of these 
grand liners, which bear to and fro such a precious 
living freight, is as massive and rigid as that of a 
man-o'-war ; and where iron was employed a few 
years ago we now find castings of the finest tempered 
steel, nickel, and bronze. Only the best and most 
modern materials and appliances are used, everything 
being brought from year to year most rigorously 
'^ up-to-date.'' And every measurement to the min- 
utest particular, every line or curve of framing or 
plating, every detail of weight and form required for 
the interior or fittings, is calculated and worked out 
on paper before the keel of the new vessel is laid upon 
the building-slips. 

The first process undertaken in the shipyards, there- 
fore, after the draughtsmen's designs and computa- 
tions have been completed, is the drawing or scriving 
of the proposed vessel's frame to the exact dimensions 

312 



Ocean Leviathans ^ 

of the matured plan. This is done in a shed or loft 
whose floor is an immense scrive-board, upon which 
the precise form of every frame in the ship is sketched 
to scale, and full-sized moulds or shapes are pre- 
pared. Near at hand is an iron platform with fur- 
naces attached large enough to contain the whole of 
a ship's rib, though it may be over 60 feet long. The 
frame and bars being heated till malleable, are drawn 
from the furnace on to the iron floor and there bent 
into the required shape between pegs previously 
arranged. But before this final bending the frame 
has been punched for rivets, and cut to the right 
length, and frequently its edges have been bevelled 
while it is hot. The punching, shearing, and bevel- 
ling machines are therefore also arranged in close 
proximity to the furnaces and platform. The angle- 
bars are similarly punched and finished. The beams 
are prepared in the same fashion, their holes punched, 
and knees or angles formed at the ends, after which 
they are bevelled and curved. 

By this time the keel has been fashioned and laid 
at the bottom of the building-berth, other keelsons 
being laid parallel with it and girders or stringers 
between them. As the ribs are ready they are 
brought to the slips and riveted each into its ap- 
pointed place transversely to the keelsons ; the beams 
(or horizontal frames) overhead holding the outer 
framework in shape, while wooden ribbands are 
bolted temporarily to the frames to '* fair " the 
whole structure to its correct form. The water-tight 

313 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

bulkheads, that is, the partitions which divide up the 
interior of the ship into compartments, having been 
worked elsewhere, are also brought up and adjusted, 
helping to give strength and rigidity. Most of them 
are placed across the hull, which is, however, also 
divided longitudinally for a great part of its length. 

Tht framing, or first part of the construction, may 
now be considered complete, the whole outline of the 
vessel standing ready in skeleton for the second 
operation oi plating. 

The huge iron or steel plates — often 30 feet in 
length — which, attached to the ribs, form the shell 
plating, and to the beams the deck plating, have mean- 
while been cast from moulds or templates previously 
made of the exact size and marked with holes cor- 
responding to those in the framing. The position of 
the holes being transferred from the mould to the 
plate, they are punched out and the edges of the 
plate then sheared. The edges and butts have also 
to be planed and the rivet holes countersunk ; while 
in some cases the plate must be bent before use. 
This is done in a machine containing three rollers, 
two of which receive the plate between them ; the 
third roller is then raised (or lowered) against the 
free part, till its pressure — several times repeated — 
gives the desired curve without any reheating being 
necessary. Some shipbuilders also treat the edges of 
the plates by a system called '^joggling," for which 
special machinery is provided, which bends them to 
overlap in such a manner that no strips of lining 

314 



Ocean Leviathans 

metal are required. Thus a saving is effected both 
of labour and of extra weight in construction. 

The plate now is ready for incorporation into the 
growing vessel. It is lifted to its place by mechanical 
power, the red-hot rivets are dropped into their 
holes, and a few blows of a riveting hammer spread 
and secure their ends. Plate by plate the out- 
side of the vessel is covered with its metal skin ; 
the edges of the plates are minutely faired and 
caulked; the inner hull, or false bottom, is similarly 
treated ; then the beams receive their complement of 
plating and the decks spring into existence. The 
shell is complete, and awaits its motive power and 
interior fittings. 

But we will pause a moment to consider the means 
by which these various processes of manufacture 
have been carried through. Hand- worked machinery 
is rapidly being superseded by wonderfully ingenious 
and powerful machines run either by steam-engines, 
by hydraulic or pneumatic power, or by electricity. 
A combination punching and shearing machine is 
generally employed, having gaps^ deep enough to 
take half the width of the largest plates required. 
The plate (often supported by chains) is mechanically 
fed through the gap, but two or three workmen may 

^ To explain the word **gap," it should be stated that the machines for 
punching, riveting, &c., resemble somewhat in shape a common fret-saw, 
the light framework being replaced by castings of enormous strength. 
The gap is the distance between the tool (which occupies the position of 
the jaws gripping the saw) and the inner side of the back of the bow. 
The gap of a fret-saw is rather more than a foot. 

315 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

be needed to guide it and to regulate the distance of 
the holes, which are stamped out by the punch falling 
sharply against a die. 

Certain machines working horizontally are used 
for angle-bars and beams ; therefore they do not need 
a wide gap, and are often combined with an apparatus 
for bending and straightening the beams and bars, 
and with shears for cutting angles. Farther on we 
see one of the multiple punches which can stamp 
forty-seven holes at a time through yV^^^h plates, 
most valuable for tank-work, pontoons, and so on. 

For all large and heavy work hydraulic power is 
greatly in request throughout those countries whose 
winter cold is not severe enough to impede its use. 
We therefore find it much employed in English ship- 
yards for such operations as punching man-holes, 
flanging plates, or hoisting and riveting large super- 
ficies. One of these heavy hydraulic presses can do 
flanging and joggling, and also punch manholes 
21 inches by i8 inches through plates | inch thick. 
Another punches i|-inch holes in i|-inch plates 
36 inches from the edge at one end, while at the other 
end it shears similar plates 33 inches from the edge 
between two steel plates set at the required angle ; 
and an arrangement in the body of the machine 
enables it to cut channels and tees, or to chop through 
angle-bars 6 inches by 6 inches by f inch in dimensions. 

Yonder massive machine surmounted by huge 
wheels is equally versatile and still more powerful. 
It quietly bends cold iron beams from 12 inches to 

316 



Ocean Leviathans 

i6 inches deep, works a big horizontal punch, and 
with two sets of shears cuts angles " and notches to 
any section. This one with 42-inch-deep gaps can 
stamp two holes i inch wide through i-inch steel at 
each blow ; and the other with two gaps 48 inches deep 
punches rivet holes and cuts notches in stringer- 
plates 10 inches by 8 inches by | inch. 

Not far from these is the long plate-edge planing 
machine, which takes an easy cut off a 2-inch plate, 
planing 24 feet at a stretch. Those long arms 
with drills operating from them are the counter- 
sinking machines, used in groups that they may get 
to work simultaneously upon the same plate in order 
to save time, as the greater proportion of rivet holes 
require this treatment. We notice in passing that the 
heavy bevelling machines, which have to manipulate 
the bars or angle-iron while hot, are mounted upon 
rails to facilitate their being run up to the mouth of 
the furnace. 

The plate-bending machines already mentioned are 
still more elaborate in structure, and consequently 
very expensive ; indeed, they may cost anything up to 
;65ooo. Whether working horizontally or vertically 
they have to be extremely powerful, the rollers often 
needing to be braced by strong girders carrying inter- 
mediate rollers lest they should be buckled them- 
selves. Those made for straightening out plates (up 
to 8 feet wide by i^ inches thick) consist of several 
rollers, while that which prepares the plates to cover 
masts rolls them into a complete cylinder which is 

317 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

removed by being drawn off one end of the upper 
roller. There stands an hydraulic keel-plate-bending 
machine, which can curve both sides of a keel-plate at 
the same time. And any of these various machines 
can be fitted with hydraulic cranes, &c., to handle the 
plates. 

Smaller, lighter tools, manipulated by separate 
workmen, may also be driven by hydraulic power 
with the greatest advantage. 

Hydraulic riveting machines are now almost uni- 
versally used in British ship-yards. These perform 
their work of burring the heads of rivets by the 
irresistible power of water pressure, which slowly 
moulds the free end of the rivet as soon as the jaws 
of the machine have been brought in position so as to 
grip the rivet longitudinally. The use of hydraulic 
riveters, which can be applied to the major part of a 
ship's frame and plates, effects a saving in cost of 
30 to 40 per cent., and the work is done better than 
by hand. 

In America preference is given to the pneumatic 
riveter ; a small tool, which, under an air pressure 
of 100 to 150 lbs. per square inch, delivers several 
hundred blows a minute on the tail of the rivet, with 
a force and rapidity which soon spreads the metal. 
These tools, being light enough for a workman to 
carry easily in his hands, are very convenient in many 
ways, but at present have not found much favour on 
this side of the Atlantic. In certain of our ship- 
building yards, however, we find pneumatic riveters, 

318 



Ocean Leviathans 

caulkers, and chippers coming into greater use, mainly 
on account of their portable character, which enables 
them to be applied quickly to their work. In some 
cases a pneumatic holding-on hammer is combined 
with the riveter, though as a rule the holder-on is 
separate. 

Punching, boring, deck-planing, &c., may be also 
carried on pneumatically, some large drills being in 
use, but electrically-driven tools seem preferred for 
these and similar operations. 

To deal with the enormous expanse of the modern 
Argo, and the very large and heavy plates now used 
for its outer covering, correspondingly gigantesque 
plant is being devised. Huge revolving derricks 
worked by electricity lift the heavy portions and 
install them in their place. At the Newport News 
yard in America, a cantilever crane, each arm extend- 
ing 89 feet from the centre (and able to deal with 
weights of from 4 tons to 12 tons according to 
position), moves on a trestle 735 feet long. Messrs. 
Harland & Wolff use a travelling gantry, first de- 
signed for the Oceanic^ which strides across the vessel 
under construction, and runs on rails laid parallel with 
its bed ; this is provided with three traversing-cranes, 
and four 4-ton swing-cranes to facilitate operations. 
Many of the shell plates in the Celtic and Cedric^ti^ 3 
to 4 tons, and larger pieces of the ships — such as the 
stern frame — weigh over 50 tons. The famous 
Vulcan Works, Stettin, hoist their big fittings into 
place with an enormous '^ shear-legs " crane, whose 

3^9 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

chain-tackle, strong enough to move loo-ton guns 
if required, can readily deal with such items as pumps, 
shafts, funnels, boilers, and masts. Some constructors 
raise a colossal framework to form the building shed, 
upon the sides and under the roof of which both 
fixed and movable cranes are arranged to carry 
and deposit materials, or to support machines and 
tools. 

All such shipbuilding plant is very costly to set up, 
and the machines are expensive to keep in order. 
However, the economy in labour, and the increased 
rate of output rendered possible make it worth 
while to incur the expenditure. For though the 
largest-sized ships are found to require a greater 
proportionate outlay on construction than smaller 
ones, they are much cheaper to run ; all such ex- 
penses as loading, coal consumption, and harbour 
charges falling less heavily when divided over a large 
cargo. So the tendency of the epoch is to increase 
the size of vessels year by year. This fact is being 
brought home even to the most conservative dock 
owners, and the movement towards widening and 
deepening harbour and dock accommodation is nearly 
universal. Both at the mouth of the Mississippi and 
in New York the entrances are being dredged for a 
draught of 40 feet, and those European docks which, 
like Southampton and Hamburg, have kept abreast of 
the times, are attracting the most flourishing trade. 
It has been calculated that within the half century our 
principal liners will measure 1000 feet in length by 

320 




a- 
I" 








o 




PS 




u 




a 




a 




<u 




CJ 




O 


12 


"o 


*^ 


n 


Q 




.§ 


« 


>fi; 


en 


c/) 


J^ 




-i-> 


^ 


>> 


-5? 


X5 








-d 


g 


Ot! 


•^^ 


ui 




rt 


- 


15 


^ 


TS 


"--s 


.ifi 


^ 


•d 




C3 


•-^ 


3 


^ 

^ 


2 




tiO 


S 


2i 
o 




«+-( 




<u 


00 


5 


■rs» 


d 


^Q 




^y< 


4> 






^ 


3 


~* 


o 


v> 


J2 


^ 


>. 


p. d 










Q 








T 




6 




^ 








a> 




X! 




H 



o 



^. 



Ocean Leviathans 

loo feet in breadth, and draw over 30 feet of 
water. 

The White Star Company and the North German 
lines have, during late years, become rivals in running 
ships of unusual speed and capacity. Building against 
each other, they have succeeded in producing veritable 
floating palaces. There is, however, a fundamental 
difference in the working principles to which each 
pins its faith. 

Every half-knot gained in speed means an enor- 
mously higher coal consumption, since the resistance 
offered by water to a body moving through it in- 
creases more rapidly than the resultant velocity — 
practically the resistance varies as the square of the 
velocity. Hence, to double the speed it would be 
necessary to quadruple the impelling force, and 
engines of eight times the power would be required — 
that is, the motive energy must be increased in ratio 
with the cube of the velocity. For example, the engine- 
power producing 15 miles per hour would have to 
be twenty-seven times greater than for 5 miles per 
hour. 

The Cunard ''fliers'' Campania and Lucaniay which 
till recently held the record for swift Atlantic passages, 
make 22 knots with 28,000 horse-power ; but to get 
two additional knots per hour 48,000 horse-power 
would be necessary, and the addition of 290 tons of 
coal to the present 460 tons consumed per day. 
German enterprise is bending all its energies to solve 
the problem of how to add this extra speed without 

321 X 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

swamping profits by the initial cost and fuel bill 
of such powerful engines. The English-speaking 
company is inclined to spend less on despatch, 
and to make their gains off large freights and lower 
fares. 

In 1897 the Kaiser Wilhelm der Gross e, with a length 
of 680 feet, and a gross tonnage of 20,880 tons, was 
the '^ biggest thing afloat,'' and her record speed of 
23 knots wrested from England the '' blue riband of 
the sea." But the Oceanic^ measuring 704 feet from 
end to end, and of 30,000-tons displacement at load- 
line, was even then upon the stocks at Belfast, and 
her maiden voyage was watched with exceptional 
interest. She was built to be a mail and passenger 
steamer of the finest type and largest size, and soon 
proved herself to combine speed, steadiness, and 
comfort with her immense capacity. 

The Hamburg- American line replied with the 
Deutschlandy launched in 1900, at 16,500 tons, which 
made the record passage to New York of 5 days, 
7 hours, 38 minutes, doing as much as 23*51 knots an 
hour. The Kronprinz Wilhelm^ of the North German 
line, runs her closely with 23*21 knots per hour on 
occasion. 

Meanwhile Messrs. Harland & Wolff's building 
yard at Belfast was exerting itself to outdo even its 
former triumph in size — the Oceanic — by producing 
her giant sister the Celtic^ and subsequently the Cedric. 
In emulation of these the Vulcan Company at Stettin 
has followed up its first Kaiser Wilhelm by a second of 

322 



Ocean Leviathans 

the name which is to surpass (so we are assured) 
every previous marvel of marine architecture. 

Largest of all vessels ever built is the new twin- 
screw steamer Cedric^ with gross tonnage of 21,000 
tons (the Celtic being the first to exceed 20,000 tons), 
and a load-line displacement of 37,870 tons. The 
Oceanic is luxurious and rapid, her speed averaging 
21 knots per hour, but the Celtic and Cedric were 
designed as combination ships, adding huge cargo- 
carrying capacity to comfortable passenger accommo- 
dation for those whose desideratum is a moderate 
charge. Externally they are very striking vessels, but 
their immense size is so masked by perfect proportion 
and graceful lines that it can only be appreciated 
when in comparison with others. 

Standing on the captain's bridge of the Cedric^ we 
gaze dizzily down to the keel 100 feet below ^ — an 
elevation comprising no fewer than nine decks — and 
endeavour to realise that in full length and width 
the great structure measures 700 feet by 75 feet (5 
feet wider than the Oceanic). Then the eye is gradu- 
ally carried upward by the four tall masts, and turns 
almost with awe upon the pair of monster funnels, 
15 feet 9 inches by 12 feet in diameter, towering 120 
feet above the top of their fire-grates. Eight boilers 
supply steam for working the Harland & Wolff 
quadruple-expansion engines of 14,000 horse-power, 
which, being perfectly balanced and driven at a 
medium speed of 17 knots, not only consume less 

^ This only possible in dry dock. 

323 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

coal; but almost do away with the vibration which has 
such a disagreeable effect in very fast steamers. 

First-class accommodation is all amidships, on the 
upper-bridge and boat decks, the sitting-rooms form- 
ing an imposing suite both in size and in style of 
decoration. The splendid dining-saloon on the upper 
deck, superbly illuminated through a domed skylight, 
its panelled walls embellished by deep mouldings and 
alabaster frieze, its ceiling brilliant in white and gold, 
extends the whole breadth of the ship, and will seat 
over three hundred guests at once. The library — 
dedicated chiefly to the ladies — is a luxuriously fur- 
nished apartment, cosy chairs and lounges, writing- 
tables, rich pile carpets, carefully screened lights, and 
a perfect system of ventilation, providing the acme of 
comfort. A little way removed is the spacious 
smoking-room, its walls more soberly and appro- 
priately hung with embossed leather, and its plenish- 
ings all that the heart of man can desire. 

There are single-berth state-rooms (a rare con- 
venience), ordinary state-rooms for two or more 
persons, and suites consisting of bed-, sitting-, and 
bath-rooms for families or those who desire privacy. 
Small adjustable tables, and square windows with 
screw ventilators are special features in the bridge- 
deck chambers. 

The second class has corresponding accommoda- 
tion aft, on the upper and bridge decks, almost 
equally handsome and convenient in its appoint- 
ments, with bed-rooms, bath-rooms, &c., all of the 

324 



Ocean Leviathans 

latest type. While the third class passengers are 
domiciled upon the upper, middle, and lower decks, 
either in separate cabins or in open berths little in- 
ferior to what was the highest-priced accommodation 
a few years ago. For these also are prepared a series 
of comfortable dining, sitting, and smoking rooms, 
and the ventilation (by a system of electric and steam 
fans), bathing facilities, electric lighting, and so on, 
are — as elsewhere — ordered upon the most approved 
principles. 

Each class of passengers, and the ship's own com- 
pany has its entirely separate equipment of cuisine ; 
and there are well-found quarters for the crew, who 
number some 350. Of these about 100 men are 
employed in the engine department below decks, 
and nearly twice as many to serve the visitors in 
various capacities, the rest being deck-hands. 

After a stroll along the promenades, and a rest 
beneath the snowy awnings which make cool retreats 
from the mid-day sun, we pass from one storey to 
another by means of broad stairways and along corri- 
dors where the feet tread noiselessly and securely 
upon patent rubber flooring, in artistic designs, and 
descend to what may be termed the ''business pre- 
mises'' of this great marine hostelry. Again we en- 
counter fresh marvels at every step, till there is no 
more spirit left in us to put another question, and 
no words can hope to convey the impression left 
on our mind of magnitude, of mechanical force, of 
almost limitless foresight and efficiency. How have 

325 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

the dry bones been clad, the echoing compartments 
been filled, since we watched the skeleton of the 
mighty fabric rise with clang of metal upon metal ! 
What thousands of tons of fittings, and furnishings, 
and every manner of provision, have been hoisted 
into her and bestowed among her numerous decks 
before this Queen of the Seas took her first trip west- 
wards as one of the links of empire ! 

Amidships, its distribution carefully calculated to 
preserve balance and minimise strain upon the hull, 
the machinery which provides motive-power for this 
vast dead weight is situated. Here are the great 
steam-engines with all their appurtenances, to the 
untrained eye a bewildering confusion of wheels and 
cylinders, cranks and rods ; the boilers and their 
supply tanks ; the exhaust-pipes and ventilators ; the 
succession of coal-bunkers, arranged to form a pro- 
tection round the engines which they feed. To ex- 
plore the length of the massive driving-shafts which 
convey the engine's energy from the centre of the 
ship to the propellers at the stern would be a journey 
in itself. 

Incidentally we are introduced to some of the 
auxiliary engines for steering, pumping, and ventila- 
tion ; to the electric plant ; to the system of telephonic 
communication, and the wireless telegraphy office. 
And forming the very basement of the whole build- 
ing, between the two skins of the hull, lie — rather 
to be guessed at than seen — the huge water tanks ; 
tanks to hold hundreds of tons of fresh water, tanks 

326 



Ocean Leviathans 

to supply the boilers, and the water-ballast which 
trims the ship and can be periodically increased to 
compensate consumption of coal and provisions 
during the voyage. 

Glance in passing into the extensive holds crowded 
with cargo, which is let down from above by cranes 
and winches attached to the decks. That massive 
door guards the strong room wherein all valuables 
are deposited beneath the captain's care. And this 
is the entrance to the freezing chamber in which 
meat and other necessaries are kept fresh to the 
very end of the journey. There are furlongs of 
hose, with forcing-engines and all other appliances, 
to fight the great enemy of sea-going craft. The 
sturdy crew seem as well trained in their fire-drill 
as in manning the flotilla of boats that swing from 
the davits above, prepared for all emergencies. 

Admire now the airy kitchens, equipped with every 
latest invention to save the cooks labour, and their 
spacious sculleries and pantries ; the laundries, store- 
rooms, cupboards, wine-bins, and all the other do- 
mestic paraphernalia of a first-class hotel. But what 
hotel had ever to provide for so many resident guests? 
Where is the manager who could serenely contem- 
plate the cutting off of his establishment from all 
outside support for several consecutive days ? No 
fishmonger, no milkman, no newspaper-boys ; neither 
restaurant, picture-gallery, nor theatre for the ennuyds 
to resort to ! And upon these big Hners we find not 
merely such an assembly as might fill the most capa- 

327 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

cious hotel, but a population equal to that of many 
a country town. Three hundred and sixty-five first- 
class passengers, i6o second-class, and 2352 steer- 
age, with the vessel's own quorum, bring up the 
temporary inmates of the Cedric to nearly 3300 
souls. 

Let them enter the vessel two bv two — the time- 
honoured fashion in which our youthful fingers filed 
the animals towards the Ark — they would make a 
procession about 2 miles long. Or domicile them 
in houses 4 or 5 storeys high, allowing 10 per- 
sons to a house, and 2 feet of frontage to a 
person, they would fill both sides of a street 5 
furlongs (|-mile) in length. And all these men, 
women, and children, must be housed and fed, 
waited upon, and amused, according to their varying 
requirements, for the space of a week. Calculate 
the amount of household provision — not simply food 
of all kinds, liquid and solid, but china, plate, linen, 
napery — the daily toll of 500 serviettes alone ! 

All is there, however, awaiting them before they 
set foot on board, all the conveniences of every-day 
life in cities demanded by the most exigent traveller. 
The ever-recurring dainty meals, served by deft-handed 
waiters ; white cloths and glittering glass and silver ; 
palms and ferns and fresh flowers to rest the eye. 
There is space for games to exercise the athletic. 
Music and dancing speed the evening hours. While 
chatting lazily in the cigar-store or refreshment bar 
we might forget that we are being carried swiftly 

328 



Ocean Leviathans 

across the ocean, save for the breeze which soothes 
and refreshes our business-jaded faculties. And this 
upon a steamer designed chiefly for a freight carrier ! 

In the Deutschland and the Kaiser Wilhelm IL we 
recognise the opposite type of vessel, — that built only 
for conveying mails and passengers at highest speed. 
The conclusion apparently arrived at by English and 
American companies, that ^'excessive speed which 
means enormous first cost and extravagant running 
expenses does not pay,'' is here controverted ; for 
the large subsidies provided by Government enable 
the German '* express '' liners to pay their w^ay every 
trip, and, when full, to make a large profit. The Kaiser 
Wilhelm II , represents the ne plus ultra of luxury 
which twentieth century civilisation has produced, 
the rush for wealth which almost precludes enjoyment 
in its possession. The first requisite is hurry — to 
clench a bargain, to start a new undertaking. So 
the main engines are the most powerful ever designed, 
composing a structure 92 feet long, and 43 feet 4 inches 
in height ; the weight of the crank shafts alone being 
252,000 lbs. A plant of nineteen boilers provides 
steam for 4 quadruple-expansion engines, which pro- 
duce about 40,000 i.h.p., and are intended to drive 
her through the water at a rate approaching 24 
knots. The condensers, through which the steam 
passes after leaving the last cylinder, are a mass of 
narrow tubes aggregating 40 miles if laid end to end. 
The complete driving-shaft is 230 feet long, and the 
four-bladed bronze propellers— they work at 80 revolu- 

329 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

tions per minute — are 22 feet, 10 inches in diameter. 
The boiler-rooms and coal-bunkers (the latter con- 
taining 5700 tons) have a total length of 295 feet, 
and the coal is conveyed to the furnaces along a 
railway track measuring double that length. Fresh 
air is conducted to the boiler-rooms through large 
cowls 69 feet long, and the combustion gases dis- 
charge themselves by 4 funnels as in other ships of 
the same line.^ 

The cast-steel stern-post is of the enormous weight 
of 253,000 lbs., and the rudder has an elaborate steel 
protection in case of war. Into this cigar-shaped 
extension a special steering engine is built, supple- 
mented by one upon the poop-deck, and by a hand- 
moved tiller should the machinery fail. 

The Kaiser Wilhelm IL is about the same length 
as the Cedric ; but her beam is 3 feet narrower, and 
her tonnage considerably less, as she is not a cargo 
steamer. Every modern improvement to ensure 
safety amid the perils of the seas has been elaborated : 
such as exceptional thickness of keel-plating ; 18 
water-tight bulkheads ; an extensive system of water 
and steam pipes, and electric alarm-bells to guard 
against fire ; a fleet of 26 boats ; and 27 powerful 
steam pumps, which can between them discharge 
9360 tons of water per hour. 

Besides the ship's complement of 600 men, 1888 
passengers have to be catered for — 773 first-class, 
343 second-class, and 770 third-class. There are 4 

^ 237 men devote their services entirely to this department. 

330 



Ocean Leviathans 

separate kitchens, of which the one for the first-class 
alone is 56 feet long and 30 feet wide, its pantry 
measures 70 feet by 18 feet, and the sculleries 36 feet 
by 17 feet ; all other appointments in proportion. 
The storerooms are of vast dimensions, providing a 
space of 26,000 cubic feet, with refrigerators to keep 
the contents cool, and a large supply of ice for use. 

Space fails us to enumerate the minute particulars 
of accommodation made for travellers' needs or 
idiosyncrasies. Two doctors, with a drug store at 
their disposal, are ready to attend upon the sick. A 
dark-room awaits the enthusiastic amateur photo- 
grapher. The two Wiener Caf6s combine the open- 
air enjoyments of the Fatherland with a far-reaching 
prospect of the glorious sea. A barber's shop lessens 
the trials of the toilet. And the electric system installed 
throughout the ship is carried into such practical 
detail that we may equally light our cigars or curl 
our hair by electricity ! 

The children have a saloon to themselves, prettily 
decorated in red and white, and its walls adorned 
with paintings representing popular fairy tales. As 
for the architecture of the suites of assembly rooms, 
the dining-saloon, drawing-room, smoking-rooms, 
vestibules and corridors, and the great light -well, 
whose balconies are supported on graceful colon- 
nades, does it not present the very semblance of a 
fairy-tale vivified in the mere description ? The 
schemes of aesthetic colouring, varied by pictures and 
statuettes by eminent artists ; the stained glass and 

331 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

rich brass ornamentations ; the lacquer-work in simili- 
tude of birds and flowers ; the silken curtains ; the 
exquisite mingling of shades in carpets and draperies, 
all read like a scene from the White Cat's palace of 
delights. 

But we are brought back by a sudden shock to 
the stern realities of life. Saluting Ludwig Noster's 
fine portrait of the sovereign whose name the sump- 
tuous vessel bears, we cross the deck reluctantly to 
leave her. And there confront us the metal beds 
that enable the peaceful express steamer to develop 
into a vessel of destruction within a fortnight of the 
first rumour of coming war. 



332 



CHAPTER XVII 

FLOATING DOCKS 

However accurately planned and carefully finished 
a vessel may be, the time comes when it has to go 
on to the ''sick list." Its ailment may only amount 
to the need of a fresh coating or two of paint, or 
the accumulation of barnacles and marine weeds on 
its bottom may have perceptibly diminished its speed. 
Or perhaps a storm has handled it roughly, and a 
plate has started far below the water-line ; or it has 
run foul of a rock, and crushed in a part of its steel 
walls ; and last, but not least, shot and shell may 
have worked their wicked will upon it. 

The repair of a small boat is a simple matter. 
Just beach it and turn it over. A small ship may be 
careened, or heeled over till a portion is exposed to 
the workman. But when huge vessels — liners or 
ironclads — weighing thousands of tons have to be 
handled, the question assumes an altogether more 
serious aspect. 

In most of the large ports and dockyards of the 
world is to be found a contrivance known as a dry- 
dock, an excavation walled and floored with concrete 
and masonry, and furnished at one end with stout 
gates or caissons. The vessel in for repairs is ad- 

333 



^ 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

mitted into the dock, the entrance is closed, and the 
great pumps on the dock edge set to work to drain 
off the water. As it recedes, the ship settles slowly 
down on to the keel-blocks over which she has been 
centred, and shores are placed on either side to pre- 
vent her heeling over. At last the dock is dry, and 
the carpenters and other mechanics can get to work 
with scrapers, riveters, and the special tools requisite 
for the job in hand. 

The rapid increase in the dimensions and tonnage 
of ships has necessitated a corresponding augmenta- 
tion of the measurements of dry-docks. The Cedric^ 
Oceanicj and Kaiser Wilhelm II, could no more get 
into the docks of fifty years ago than a man could 
squeeze himself into the garments of his five-year- 
old son. Dry-docks 750 feet in length are now quite 
common, and in several cases this longitude is con- 
siderably exceeded. At Liverpool we find a graving 
{i.e. dry) dock 1000 feet long, at Glasgow one of 880 
feet, at Tilbury one of 873 feet, at Belfast one of 850 
feet. In order to accommodate the largest vessels, the 
depth of water over the sill of the entrance must be 
somewhat more than the heaviest draught of these 
vessels ; and to receive them at all times and seasons, 
the level must be calculated for spring tides, when the 
tides are at their maximum and minimum heights. 

The construction of a dry-dock 800 feet long, 100 
feet broad, and 50-60 feet deep is a great undertaking; 
for these dimensions by no means fully represent the 
amount of mere excavation. If you dig a deep hole 

334 



Floating Docks 



in your back garden in normally wet weather you 
will probably find, on reaching a depth of a few feet, 
that water begins to ooze through. If, therefore, you 
require a water-tight pit of given dimensions, it will 
be necessary to clear out an extra foot or so in all 
directions to allow for a cement or brick lining on 
five faces. Should your object be a pit at once very 
deep and dry, your difficulties will be increased by 
the external pressure of the water, which may be 
roughly calculated at i pound for every 2 feet 
of depth below the top level of the water-bearing 
stratum. The thickness of your walls must be in- 
creased, and their joints sealed exactly, or you may 
find that your labour has been in vain. 

The dry-dock engineer has to contend with the 
same difficulties in an aggravated form. His walls 
are lofty, his floors very spacious. Unless the greatest 
care is taken, the walls will be bulged in by the earth 
pressure, and both walls and floor penetrated by the 
water that must be present in ground near the sea. 
And, inasmuch as the dock when dry is practically 
an emptied tank, its total weight or adhesion to the 
ground beneath must be sufficient to secure it against 
a tendency to float. The masonry is therefore very 
massive, and the bottom made in the form of an 
inverted arch to resist upward pressure and to enable 
the walls to stand the thrust inwards from the backing. 
So severe are these thrusts that the Aberdeen Dock — 
to take an instance — built in 1883-85 of concrete with 
granite facings, had been so much disturbed and 

335 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

cracked by 1896, that the owners had to decide be- 
tween spending ;^68,ooo on its repair, and rebuilding 
the dock throughout. On the Tyne, also, the bottom 
of a newly completed dock went wrong, and cost an 
additional ;^3o,ooo before it could handle a ship. ^ 

These are, however, exceptional cases, and many 
docks exist to-day which have done their duty satis- 
factorily for years, and should last for many to come, 
since well-laid ashlar work in an ordinary climate 
will stand practically for ever. The construction of 
graving-docks is nevertheless a difficult and uncertain 
matter in some localities, especially in those where 
the ground is of a sandy or porous nature. Under 
such conditions the walls and floor must be borne 
up on long piles reaching down to a more solid 
substratum. In fact, it is sometimes impossible to 
build a graving-dock except at a prohibitive cost, 
and, if the necessity for a means of repairing vessels 
in a certain locality is unavoidable, recourse must 
be had to some other means for raising the huge 
floating forts and ocean leviathans out of the water. 

In 1795 one C. Watson took out a patent for a 
floating dock, a wooden construction of barge-shaped 
lines, the ends of which could be closed by doors. 
A ship having been floated in, the doors were closed 
and the water pumped out, causing dock and vessel 
to rise above the water-line. A print is extant of 
such a dock lifting the brig Mercury at Rotherhithe 
about 1800. 

Watson's contrivance was very primitive, and cap- 

336 




:^ 






^ 

g 






f^ ^ 



?2 



o 

O 

"^ 

a 

3 

CO 

>^ 

3 



Floating Docks 

able of lifting only of what we should consider very 
small craft. But since his time immense improve- 
ments have been made, mainly owing to the substitu- 
tion of metal for wood. In 1859 Rennie built a large 
iron floating-dock for use at Cartagena, which is still 
doing useful work. The floating-docks of to-day are 
very much more imposing structures than Rennie's, 
and are of steel, like the ships they are destined to 
lift. 

The floating-dock is in idea a series of pontoons 
rigidly attached to one another and of great dis- 
placement. When full the pontoons naturally sink, 
and as they are emptied their natural buoyancy serves 
not only to raise them to the surface again, but 
also to lift burdens of a weight equal to the difference 
between their own weight and their displacement. 

In section it either resembles the graving-docks, ue. 
is of a U shape, or the letter L. The latter class is 
known as an *' off-shore" dock, since the upright 
member must be attached by parallel booms to the 
shore or some rigid hold in order that it may not 
heel over when carrying a load on its horizontal 
pontoon. The U-dock is independent, and may be 
towed from place to place like an ordinary vessel. 

Floating-docks have open ends, and are therefore 
able to handle vessels longer than themselves. The L 
docks, being open on one side also, can accommodate 
ships of greater beam than their pontoons. Modern 
vessels are very stiff, being practically a powerful form 
of girder. Their heaviest portion is in the centre, and 

337 Y 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

although it would put an undue strain on a liner to 
lift her by bow and stern, leaving her unsupported 
amidships, to apply the pressure to the central half of 
her keel only would not be attended with much risk. 
So we read that the Nicolaieff Dock, 174 feet long 
over blocks, lifted the Rossia^ 334 feet long; and 
the Barrow Dock, 240 feet long, was able to partly 
raise the Empress of China of nearly double its 
length. The same dock, though only 54 feet in beam, 
has lifted paddle steamers 68 feet broad. 

As regards latitude in dimensions the floating 
structure has a decided advantage over the graving- 
dock. Since the latter must have closed ends it is 
obvious that the length of the vessels it can accommo- 
date is strictly limited. The same is true of their 
breadth and draught. So that, given two vessels of 
equal tonnage but different lines, the one might be 
able to get into dock, and the other be compelled to go 
elsewhere ; whereas the floating-dock would probably 
be able to handle both with equal ease, or if its 
buoyancy were not sufficient to lift them clear of the 
water, it could raise them to a considerable elevation. 

Many graving-docks are for reasons of economy so 
built that vessels can enter them only at high tide : 
and, as a consequence, leave them only under the same 
conditions. The advantage of this is, that during low 
water the level outside the dock is reduced, and with 
it the hydrostatic pressure. There is less strain on 
the dock walls, and less leakage. In almost tideless 
waters, such as those of the Baltic and Mediterranean, 

338 



Floating Docks 

where the level is practically constant, the deep docks 
must always be subject to heavy pressures ; and on 
the other hand, in localities where the level fluctuates 
very greatly, as in the St. Lawrence, a dock usable 
all the year round would have to be of enormous 
depth. We therefore find the floating-dock largely 
used in preference to the graving where a constant or 
very variable level prevails. To render it useful at 
low water even in shallow roadsteads dredging is 
indeed necessary, but dredging is inexpensive in com- 
parison with excavation and masonry work on dry 
land. A sudden rise of level makes no difference 
to its usefulness. 

A further advantage of the floating-dock will easily 
be recognised by any one who has passed through a 
river lock. That lock must be completely emptied or 
completely filled whether the passing craft be a row- 
boat or a steamer. The smaller the craft the greater 
will be the amount of water moved. Now, the pump- 
ing dry of graving-docks is a costly operation, and 
would bear heavily on the owners of a small ship in 
inverse proportion to the size of their vessel. A float- 
ing-dock, on the other hand, need be emptied only 
until the deck of its pontoons is at such a depth that 
the vessel's keel will clear it as it floats in ; and the 
cost becomes much more directly proportional to the 
displacement. 

The two finest examples of floating-docks are those 
at Bermuda and Algiers, near New Orleans, built 
respectively for the British and United States Govern- 

339 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

ments. Messrs. Standfield & Clark, of Westminster, 
were responsible for the designs of these mammoth 
structures. 

In 1869 a dock was taken from England to Bermuda, 
and stationed there for strategical purposes. It is 381 
feet long and 84 feet between the side walls, and will 
lift a ship of 10,000 tons — heavier than the line-of- 
battle ship of the date of its construction. But so 
rapidly have the weights and dimensions of large 
vessels increased, that our warships are now 500 feet 
in length and of 15,000 tons displacement. The Old 
Bermuda Dock has therefore become obsolete, and 
the Admiralty was obliged to replace it by a structure 
more suited to modern requirements. Borings were 
made at many points on the island with the intention 
of deciding a position for a graving-dock, but the 
geological formation proved to be such as would 
render the construction of a graving-dock a very 
expensive matter. The authorities therefore ordered 
a floating-dock of unequalled dimensions, to cost 
^^250,000, inclusive of its transportation to Bermuda. 

The new dock was built by Messrs. C. S. Swan & 
Hunter, of Wallsend-on-Tyne. It is 545 feet long, 
and has a clear width between the top of the walls of 
100 feet. The walls themselves are 53J feet high and 
435 feet long, and form girders of enormous strength. 
Three pontoons, secured to the lower portions of the 
walls by fish-plate joints, lugs, and taper-pins, form 
the bottom or deck of the dock. The middle pontoon 
is a rectangle 96 by 300 feet ; the end pontoons, each 

340 



Floating Docks 



120 feet long, taper for 49 feet towards their outer 
extremities to facilitate towing. 

The dock, with all its machinery, weighs 6500 tons, 
and has a lifting power up to deck level of 15,500 tons, 
though by using the ''pound" formed by the bulwark 
surrounding the pontoon decks additional lifting 
power up to 17,500 tons can be gained. 

When called upon to perform its maximum lift the 
dock is sunk until the summit of its walls is but 2 feet 
6 inches above sea-level. Water is admitted into the 
three pontoons and the two side walls, and from them 
removed by eight 16-inch centrifugal pumps at a rate 
sufficient to lift an ironclad of 15,000 tons in three and 
a half hours. In order that the dock may not tilt as 
it rises, the whole is divided into fifty-six divisions, each 
of which is separately connected with the pumps. By 
turning off cocks, water can be left in any desired 
divisions, and the dock forced to incline in any direc- 
tion for purposes of cleaning and repairs. 

It is especially important that a structure of this 
kind should be self-docking, that is, able to lift any 
part of itself clear of the water. To expose the bottom 
of one side the dock is first lowered to a depth of 20 
to 21 feet, the water inside the wall compartments 
being brought to the same level as that of the water 
outside. The dock is then raised by emptying the 
pontoons, and when these are exhausted the water is 
released from the side to be exposed, until the outer 
corner is 2 feet or more clear. 

The pontoons are lifted in turn by withdrawing the 

341 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

pins of one and allowing it to float while the rest of 
the dock sinks. The pontoon is then made fast to the 
walls at its floating level, and the dock emptied, so 
exposing the whole of the bottom of the raised pon- 
toon. The two end sections can be treated simul- 
taneously, and floated if required on to the central 
portion, but the latter must be moved only when the 
other pontoons are in position. 

Electric lights and hauling machinery are dis- 
tributed over the dock. A crane capable of lifting 
5 tons runs along each wall from end to end. 

The Bermuda Dock was launched at Wallsend in 
February 1902, the largest floating thing that ever 
took the water since the time of Noah. It was then 
towed round to the Medway for a trial with a battle- 
ship before being despatched on its 4000-mile voyage 
to Bermuda, and moored in the deep part of Sea- 
Reach opposite Port Victoria. The Admiralty selected 
the Sanspareil as the test ship on account of her 
shape, and the fact that the peculiar distribution of 
her weight makes her a somewhat difiicult vessel to 
handle. ''The battleship was moored just above 
Sheerness, and about the time of high-water, about 
11.30 A.M., she was taken in charge by three dock- 
yard tugs, and brought up to the entrance of the 
floating dock. Steel-wire hawsers were made fast 
to the bow, and these being secured to the winches 
on the dock the hauling-in commenced. There was 
a strong breeze blowing down the reach at the time, 
and on the flood this had raised waves of a con- 

342 



Floating Docks 



siderable size for enclosed water, the tide running 
in this part of the Medway with considerable force. 
With the turn of the ebb, wind and tide being to- 
gether, the water was smoother, but still there was 
considerable motion. This, naturally, did not affect 
the dock in the slightest degree, as the whole of the 
pontoon was 28 feet below the water-line, and only 
the tops of the walls were above the surface. The 
heavy battleship of over 10,000 tons displacement — 
she was drawing only 27 feet — had to be hauled in 
against the tide, which was now running somewhat 
over 3 knots. Naturally, care had to be taken 
to keep her keel fairly parallel with the sides of the 
dock, for, had she got across, her spur would speedily 
have made a rent in the walls of the dock. With 
the powerful hauling appliances, however, there was 
no fear of this, and the vessel was under complete 
control with the wire hawsers on each side. The ship 
was centred on the keel blocks, and the upper rows 
of shores were fixed in position in something under 
two hours, and the work of pumping out the dock 
was commenced at a few minutes past two o'clock. 
Pumping was continued for fifty minutes, by the end 
of which time the dock and ship had been raised 
13 feet, and it was then necessary to put in another 
line of shores. This operation occupied a con- 
siderable time, and it was late in the evening before 
the work was concluded, and the ship raised out of 
the water." ^ 

1 Engineerings June 13, 1902, 

343 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

The trial completed, the dock was towed from 
Sheerness to Bermuda by two tugs, the Zwarte Zee 
and Oceaan of Rotterdam. The only place at which 
it was necessary to call was the Azores, where the 
tugs replenished their bunkers. The time occupied 
was fifty-two days, including the stoppage of three or 
four days at the Azores ; but the progress was sure 
though slow, and the dock arrived in perfect safety 
at its destination. 

The possible importance of this dock in a naval 
war in western waters can be judged from the fact, 
that there is no point within looo miles of Bermuda 
to which a crippled battleship could make for re- 
pairs. For some time past the Bermudan authorities 
have been obliged to send on large vessels to Halifax 
in Nova Scotia, a voyage which could scarcely be 
faced by a leaky craft. If strategy demanded, the 
dock might be taken in tow, and removed to a more 
favourable position nearer the probable theatre of 
war. 

The second largest, but the most powerful, of float- 
ing-docks is to be found at the naval base of Algiers, 
in the Gulf of Mexico. This dock is 525 feet long, 
and of the same width as the Bermudan. 

Its lifting power up to pontoon deck level is no 
less than 18,000 tons, and this may be increased to 
20,000 tons by utilising the "pound." It is 650 tons 
lighter than the English dock, and weight for weight 
more efficient, since every 33 tons has a lifting 
efficiency of 100 tons, equal to that of 39 tons in 

344 




05 



ci <u 



Floating Docks 



the English dock. The general arrangement of 
machinery is much the same in both docks. The 
Algiers dock is moored to the shore by two pivoted 
and hinged booms, which are useful also as gangways. 

After its completion by the Maryland Steel Com- 
pany, Sparrow's Point, Maryland, it was transported 
to its berth at Algiers, and given a trial with the 
Illinois of about 12,000 tons. As in the case of the 
Sanspareil the docking was conducted without a 
hitch, though the time occupied was considerably 
less than that of the Sheerness trial. The contract 
time for raising the ship clear was three hours, after 
pumping had once begun. It actually took three 
hours to get the Illinois in position, and two hours 
less three minutes more to raise the pontoon decks 
3 feet above water. The Americans strengthen the 
bilges of their ironclads with strong bilge docking- 
keels, forming with the keel proper a level bottom, 
since the vessel settles on the three bearings simul- 
taneously. No shores are required except those used 
for roughly centering the vessel, and as a con- 
sequence a vessel might be completely docked, if 
built on the American plan, in the time taken to 
adjust one constructed on English lines. It remains 
to be proved whether the presence of bilge keels 
detracts from a vessel's speed. If not, the American 
practice appears very preferable, for in war-time de- 
spatch in all operations is of the first importance. 

Some doubts have been thrown upon the stability 
of the floating-dock ; and indeed it does look at first 

345 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

sight as though a large tank laden with an ironclad 
might lose its balance, and share the fate of the 
Royal George. But practical tests banish all such 
fears ; for the Havana dock so burdened would re- 
quire an effort of 63,502 foot-tons to move it 5 
degrees out of the perpendicular, whilst a stress of 
but 2802 foot-tons would incline the ironclad to the 
same extent. In other words the laden dock is over 
twenty times as stable as the ship itself ; while it is 
never likely to have to face such rough weather. 

One of the strongest points in favour of this type 
of dock is its mobility. At its birth it is constructed 
in the most convenient site possible, viz., the yard 
of the shipbuilder. On launching it has the whole 
world open to it. From England one goes to Stettin, 
another to Havana ; a third to Bermuda. On the 
American side the voyage from Maryland to Algiers 
is easily made. The only serious mishap in such 
journeys was that of the Durban Dock, which went 
aground and became a wreck. 

Commercial prosperity not unfrequently deserts 
one port for another. The floating-dock can follow, 
while the graving-dock remains — idle. Messrs. Clark 
& Standfield, in a treatise on the movable type, lay 
special stress on the value of mobility in war. They 
see no reason why a floating dock, convoyed by a 
powerful tug, and fully equipped with stores and 
tools suitable for rapid repairs, should not follow the 
movements of a fleet. As they point out, the first 
sea-fight between fairly matched fleets would leave a 

346 



Floating Docks 



number of wrecks on both sides, and the commander 
who had the nearest base, and so could ''come up 
to time" again the first, would hold an enormous 
advantage. 

In home waters, too, the dock could play its part. 
Arsenals are generally placed up some river or creek 
out of reach of the enemies' guns on the open sea. 
A ship disabled at the mouth of the Thames, for 
instance, would have to make for Chatham up the 
narrow channel of the Medway. Were she to sink 
in the channel the arsenal would be effectively cut 
off from any other ships in need of assistance. The 
floating-dock could be moved down the Thames ready 
to pick up any of the ''lame ducks," and give them 
" first-aid " in the shape of temporary repairs that 
would make their hulls tight and in a fit state to 
navigate the home channels to the fully equipped and 
protected base hospitals or arsenals. It has been 
pointed out, with regard to the new Gibraltar docks, 
that they are open to the fire of the enemy from 
several points ; and the proposition made to add or 
substitute a floating-dock which could lie in the har- 
bour almost submerged by day, and at night rise to 
pick up ships needing assistance, or even be towed 
round to the other side of Europa Point, where it 
would be protected by the headlands. 

In addition to mobility, the floating -dock may 
claim the following advantages. It can be rapidly 
constructed, and its price more accurately calculated 
than in the case of a graving-dock. As an example 

347 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

of quick erection, we may instance the Havana Dock 
— of 10,000 tons lifting power — completed in i8i days 
from the date of laying the first plate. This contrasts 
favourably with the average time of three or four 
years required for the construction of a graving-dock 
of equal capacity. 

From the workman's point of view, also the "floater" 
has its recommendation. Instead of having to work 
at the bottom of a hole where the light is bad and the 
air damp, he finds himself on a well-lighted platform 
swept by breezes — which quickly dry the paint — and 
free from the discomfort often caused by leakage into 
a graving-dock. 

The latter, if properly made, is more durable than 
its metal rival. But in these days of rapid advance, 
types become obsolete so soon that this objection 
need not be considered. The best testimonial to the 
general advantages of the floating-dock is that the 
number of such structures increases from year to 
year. The more they are used the more they are 
liked. 



348 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE ROMANCE OF PETROLEUM 

Second to none in commercial importance is the 
commodity which, in its different forms, lights mil- 
lions of homes when the sun goes down, sends loco- 
motives spinning along the iron w^ay, makes the 
motor-car hum over our roads, supplies us with heat 
for cooking and many industries, lubricates millions 
of machines, has valuable medicinal properties, and 
touches our daily life at other points too numerous 
to mention here. 

Petroleum, or rock-oil, has been known to mankind 
since the dawn of history. Herodotus has celebrated 
the naphtha springs of Zacynthus, Pliny those of 
Agrigentum. Many years later Marco Polo quaintly 
wrote of Baku on the Caspian : '* There is a fountain 
of great abundance, inasmuch as a hundred shiploads 
might be taken from it at one time. This oil is not 
good to use with food, but it is good to burn ; and is 
also used to anoint camels that have the mange. 
People come from vast distances to fetch it, for in all 
countries there is no other oil like it.'' 

The last sentence, fortunately for mankind, is in- 
accurate, since petroleum is very widely distributed 
throughout the world. At present the United States 

349 



Roiruance of Modern Engineering 

and the Caspian region are the greatest oil-fields of 
the world, as regards the quantities extracted for 
human uses ; but huge deposits exist in China, Siberia, 
Burmah, Asia Minor, Canada, Mexico, Peru, waiting 
for their turn ; and doubtless as the world is better 
known fresh oil-bearing areas will be discovered. 

In Marco Polo's time men, as we have seen, '' came 
vast distances to fetch '' petroleum. To-day petroleum 
comes thousands of miles to every country, town, 
village of the civilised world ! It will be interesting 
to give some account of the engineering aspects of 
the system of supply, which circulates many millions 
of barrels of the useful fluid every year ; with refer- 
ence to the processes for raising and distilling petro- 
leum. 

In this connection we will confine our attention 
to the great oil-areas of America and Russia, where 
the crude oil occupies innumerable cavities of the 
earth, ready to give up their treasures the moment the 
engineer has done his share of the work. 

The antecedents of petroleum have been much de- 
bated, whether they are of a chemical nature, and 
therefore connected with distillation that occurred 
while the Earth was in the making ; or are to be con- 
sidered organic, resulting from the decomposition of 
vegetable and animal substances in far-off ages. In 
recent times the latter view has been much taken up 
by chemists. Further interest attaches to the question 
whether the supply of mineral oil is a fixed quantity ; 
or whether it is still manufactured by Nature in her 

350 



The Romance of Petroleum 

subterranean laboratories. Should the former hypo- 
thesis be correct, we must regard the deposits of 
petroleum as vast storehouses which, when once 
emptied, will resemble a worked-out bed of coal. 

It has, however, been proved that petroleum oc- 
curs in geological formations of all periods from the 
Silurian to the Tertiary, though most abundant in 
these two, especially the Silurian, with which is 
closely connected the carboniferous stratum of the 
Coal Age. 

The formation of large petroleum deposits is depen- 
dent on three conditions : the presence of a certain 
class of matter, converted into oil by the process of 
time ; a porous stratum to contain the oil ; and an im- 
pervious stratum above to prevent evaporation and 
displacement by water. When the oil is particularly 
well sealed in by superincumbent matter, the formation 
of gas subjects it to great pressure, sometimes rising to 
800 to 1000 lbs. per square inch, which proves itself, 
as we shall see, a valuable ally to the engineer. 

The petroleum industry may be said to date from 
the year 1859, when one Colonel Drake sank a well 
at Titus-ville in Pennsylvania, and ''struck ile" — 
otherwise a fortune — in a '' spouter " that emitted a 
copious supply of the crude material. A year later 
came the American Civil War; and not till that 
terrible conflict was over did American enterprise 
thoroughly rouse itself to exploit petroleum. Then 
followed scenes which can be paralleled only in the 
Californian and Australian gold rushes, for the eager- 

351 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

ness with which men settled on virgin tracts, ex- 
pended their all in the search for the hidden treasure, 
and, if successful, gathered about them towns which 
flourished awhile and then fell into decay as the fields 
became exhausted. And like the gold-miner, the oil 
prospector might suddenly stumble on riches, or con- 
tinue his search, hoping against hope, till beggary 
stared him in the face. 

Every year witnessed the opening of new territory, 
— Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, California, Texas, 
Wyoming, Kansas. By 1900 the output had risen to 
57,070,850 barrels, which multiplied by 40 gives the 
total in gallons. In 1901, the daily product was 
156,182 barrrels. Yet, in 1819, it was considered a 
mishap to stumble upon petroleum when sinking a 
brine- well ! 

Colonel Drake, the pioneer of the industry, drove 
an iron pipe 36 feet into the rock when boring for 
oil in the valley of Oil Creek, Pennsylvania. This 
device, necessary in many cases to hold back' the 
water in overlying strata, is now generally adopted 
for the American wells. 

Having selected a likely spot, the prospector rears 
a derrick, or lofty wooden frame, 70 feet high, in form 
a truncated pyramid, resting on a foundation of heavy 
timbers, enclosing the space in which the well will be 
sunk. To one side of the derrick is a strong upright 
post, on which a stout timber, called the ''walking 
beam,'' works see-saw fashion, actuated by a steam- 
engine at the one end, and at the other moving a rod 

352 



The Romance of Petroleum 

connected with the boring tools. The latter, in 
American practice, are attached to a rope, which can 
be paid out as the depth increases, and quickly wound 
on to special reels when the tools have to be raised 
for renewal or replacement. The series of drilling 
apparatus, taken downwards from the walking-beam, 
is as follows : — 

1. A '^temper-screw," to which is fastened 

2. The rope, 2000 to 3000 feet long. 

3. The '' sinker-bar,'' a solid rod of iron, about 
20 feet in length. 

4. The ''jars,'' a pair of heavy links, allowing about 
13 inches of "play," so that the sinker-bar may not 
strike hard on the boring tools, but yet by its mo- 
mentum on the up stroke loosen them when the links 
suddenly tighten. 

5. The auger-stem, to which is screwed the 

6. Auger or centre bit. 

The well -sinker, having his tackle all ready, begins 
operations by passing the rope over a pulley at the 
top of the derrick and round one of the drums con- 
nected with the winding gear. The engine is then 
started, and the operator, by alternately slackening 
and tightening the rope, causes the bars and borer to 
fall and rise ; taking great care that the first length 
of shaft shall be quite perpendicular. 

As soon as a sufficient depth has been reached, 
and while the auger is at the bottom of the shaft, 
he threads the rope through the temper-bar on the 

353 z 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

free end of the walking-beam. The rope is pulled up 
until the ''jars" are in contact, and then lowered 
about 4 inches, and made firm in the temper-bar. 

The walking-beam has a stroke of 24 inches. The 
first stroke up does not move the auger from its work 
until the beam has risen 4 inches, when the jars pluck 
at the auger-stem and raise it 20 inches. On the 
down stroke the sinker-bar and top jar fall the full 

24 inches, but the auger and stem and lower jar only 
20 inches plus the penetration of the fall. An attendant 
gives the temper-screw a slight turn between every 
two strokes, so that the auger may continually change 
its transverse direction, and be able to sink in without 
closing up the play of the jars. When the screw is 
run out, the rope is undamped, the screw wound 
back, and the adjustment made for a fresh attack ; or, 
if need be, the winding drums are put into action, 
the tools are drawn up, and the well cleared of sand 
or rock splinters by a pecular form of '' shell " auger. 

In this manner a hole is sunk, 8 inches in diameter, 
to a depth where water is no longer encountered ; 
and lined with a drive-pipe. Through this the boring 
continues to a point 300 to 400 feet below the surface, 
where an inner pipe, called the casing-pipe, 5^ inches 
across, also terminates. Again smaller drills are used, 
until oil is struck. 

A torpedo is then lowered into the well — i to 

25 gallons of nitro - glycerine — and fired by per- 
cussion. The explosion shatters the walls of the 
bottom of the shaft, and releases the petroleum from 

354 



The Romance of Petroleum 

myriads of small cavities, besides splitting the stratum. 
Soon afterwards the oil spurts from the mouth of the 
shaft, accompanied by fragments of the canisters that 
contained the explosives and a shower of pebbles. 

The next thing to do is to prepare the well for 
flowing. A 2-inch pipe, perforated at the bottom, 
is let down to the oil-level, after being provided with 
a rubber packing to jam against the sides of the bore. 
The pressure of the imprisoned gas drives the oil up 
the pipe like soda-water from a syphon. When its 
force has expended itself, a pump is inserted into the 
pipe, and the oil is lifted to the surface. 

On the Caspian shore the greatest oil-fields are 
those of the Apsheron Peninsula, at the east end of 
the Caucasus. Its 1200 square miles are saturated 
with petroleum like a sponge soaked in water. The 
geological foundation of the Caucasus dips under 
the Caspian and re-appears on the farther side ; its 
course being marked by gas-bubbles which have at 
times risen with sufficient violence to capsize boats, 
while the exuded oil is swept by gales into the 
harbour of Baku, where the careless throwing away 
of a match may set the Caspian on fire far and wide. 

The oil-fields of Balachani, Sabuntchi, Bibi-Eibat, 
Romany, and Binagadi, are covered thickly with 
derricks differing in shape little from the American 
type. The Russian prospector uses both cables and 
rods to move his drills, but has a preference for rods. 
As the Baku oil-fields do not hold so much gas under 
compression as those of Pennsylvania, a *' spouter " is 

355 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

a comparatively rare occurrence, though extremely 
copious when it does put in an appearance. The 
majority of Russian oil is therefore brought up by 
baling ; and that the baler — a steel tube 20 to 30 feet 
long — may have a reasonable diameter, the well 
must be bored to a considerable size in its lowest 
depth, usually 800 feet. Water being present in the 
upper strata the well-sinker has to line his shaft 
throughout, and, accordingly, begins with an opening 
28 to 30 inches across. As the drilling goes on, the 
tube lining is forced down under great pressure, until 
it is deemed advisable to contract the bore. Then a 
tube of smaller diameter is passed through the first 
and sunk, and as this process is continued the well 
lining resembles a huge telescope — one that will 
never be closed. The ''eye-end" (i.e. lowest tube) 
may be 8 inches to a foot across. 

The greatest calamity that can overtake the en- 
gineer is the snapping of his rope or rods. Or 
perhaps something falls down the well and jams the 
borer against the steel lining. Six months of hard 
and expensive labour with a host of different tweezers, 
probes, cutters, hooks, attached to the end of hundreds 
of feet of rope may be necessary for the removal of 
the obstruction. Fishing for the Atlantic Cable was 
child's-play in comparison with the rescue of a drill 
from the bottom of a quarter of a mile of tubing. 

As soon as the clearing auger begins to bring up a 
slimy, yellow sand the engineer rejoices, for he knows 
that he has obtained his reward. The baler, furnished 

356 



The Romance of Petroleum 

with a valve at the bottom, is fixed to the rope in 
place of the drill, and cautiously lowered, time after 
time, until nothing but pure oil comes up. Then the 
baling commences in real earnest, without any tor- 
pedoing, which would probably do more harm than 
good by driving great quantities of sand into the bore. 

Well-digging is always a speculation. And deep is 
the joy of the prospector when, by a good stroke of 
fortune, his borer chances on a cavity where there 
is imprisoned a large volume of gas. A Russian 
*' spouter " is a fine sight, rising 300 or 400 feet into 
the air, after very probably demolishing the derrick 
and its machinery. The proprietor cares nothing for 
this damage, as the fountain is pouring out in a 
minute, free of charge, as much petroleum as could 
be baled in a day. Such a spouter has been known 
to fling out 100,000 barrels in twenty-four hours ; 
though, of course, the rate of flow rapidly diminishes 
after the first few days. 

The average life of a well is five years. In excep- 
tional cases, how^ever, oil is raised in commercial 
quantities for thrice that time. In 1899 ^^e huge sum 
of -^2,600,000 was spent on boring alone ; and the 
output of the Apsheron was 52 million barrels. It is 
noticeable that the depth of new wells increases from 
year to year. 

Owing to the copiousness of the Russian spouter, 
the engineer must be prepared with proper means for 
catching a sudden outflow, otherwise he may see 
a fortune running to waste under his very eyes. The 

357 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

oil, as fast as it rises, is caught in a sort of compound, 
whence it is carried by channels to the reservoirs, 
where the sand is allowed to settle before the liquid is 
let off through pipes to the refineries at Black Town* 

With so much petroleum about, in the earth, on 
the earth, in the air, in everything (including food), 
it is not a matter for surprise that disastrous fires 
should occur, especially in hot weather, when a mere 
spark is dangerous. Sometimes an open settling 
reservoir ignites ; and then is seen a sight of unsur- 
passed grandeur, as a huge inky cloud rolls its fat 
folds of smoke for miles over the landscape. Nothing 
can be done to quell such a conflagration. But when 
a spouter catches fire a remedy is at hand. Scrap 
metal is collected from all quarters, and heaped round 
the well mouth in the form of a crater. Then steam 
pipes are appHed, and the base of the flame is blown 
high in the air, separated from its source of supply by 
a tract of unignited gas. At a favourable moment the 
metal crater is thrust inward on to the orifice, and 
the flame immediately dies of starvation. 

In its natural state petroleum is of so composite a 
character, that it must be passed through the refinery, 
and its various ^^ layers " sorted out by the stilL 

This is in idea a huge closed upright cylinder with 
a capacity of 10,000 to 40,000 gallons, heated by 
furnaces beneath, and connected by pipes, passing 
through cold water, to the receptacles for catching 
the products of distillation. 

The first bodies to pass off from the crude oil are 

358 



The Romance of Petroleum 

the very volatile gases, which are condensed back 
into naphtha and petrol. The still is then cooled, and 
heated again, this time to a higher temperature, 
driving off the illuminating oils. Then follow in 
succession the thick lubricating oils, greases (such 
as vaseline), and tar. 

Russian refiners often use, in the place of a single 
still heated to different temperatures, a series of 
smaller stills through which the crude oil slowly 
passes, giving off in each still the bodies volatilised 
by the temperature of that particular still, which is 
not the same as that of the rest of the series. It is 
claimed for this principle that a great saving of time 
and fuel is effected, since there is no delay for cooling 
down or drawing the fires. 

American petroleum is much richer in the illumi- 
nating oils than is the Russian. And the latter is 
proportionately more fitted for use as liquid fuel, 
after the volatile elements, which would be dangerous 
in a firebox, have been driven off by distillation. 
The heavy residuum, known as astaktiy was for years 
found to be an encumbrance, as the Russian refiners 
were chiefly interested in producing lamp oil. But 
Mr. Nobel, a Swede, conceived the idea of utilising 
the hitherto waste product, by spraying or atomising 
it with steam, and introducing it in this state into a 
furnace. As a result, the astakti has become of great 
commercial value ; raises practically all the steam- 
power in South Russia, on both land and river, and 
is being used in an increasing number of locomotive 

359 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

and marine fireboxes throughout the world, on ac- 
count of the ease with which it can be stoked, its 
comparative cleanliness, and the convenience and 
economy attending its storage. 

The American has copied the Russian example 
with Texas fuel, which closely resembles the Caspian 
astakti. Texas petroleum is naturally rich in sul- 
phur, which interferes with both storage and combus- 
tion. But a method of precipitating the sulphur 
economically has been discovered, and now Texas 
fuel is produced transcending the Russian article in 
its caloric qualities. Large quantities are stored at 
Thames Haven, whence they are distributed through- 
out the south of England, replacing the "black 
diamond'' to no small extent. 

Dr. Boverton Redwood has calculated that the 
world's consumption of petroleum represents a con- 
tinuous flow, at the rate of 3 miles an hour, through 
a 41-inch pipe ! and that the storage of a year's supply 
would require for its accommodation a tank 929 feet 
high, long, and broad ! 

The profitable distribution of such an immense 
quantity of liquid has taxed the ingenuity of those 
connected with the traffic. American practice esta- 
blishes the refineries and reservoirs far from the oil- 
fields, near the sea, so that, after refining, the oil may 
be shipped with little delay. 

But how to get the petroleum from well to refinery ? 
Oil-fields are generally in rough country, difficult of 
approach by rail or road. Wheeled transport was 

360 



Petroleum ''Sponiers" on Fire at Baku. 

In hot weather when there is a quantity of inflammable gas about, such Hres are 

by no means rare. 

ITo face p. 360. 



The Romance of Petroleum 

therefore found expensive, and gradually gave way 
to a system of transmission by pipe-line from the 
wells to the seaports. 

Individual wells are connected by small pipes to 
the trunk-lines, which are operated by companies. 
The proprietor of a well runs off from his own reser- 
voirs, say, 10,000 barrels, for which he obtains a receipt, 
negotiable like an ordinary cheque. There his part 
of the transaction ends. 

The Standard Oil Company, the largest of its 
kind, collects the products of the Pennsylvania, West 
Virginia, and Ohio fields into storage tanks at Olean, 
N.Y., about 75 miles from Buffalo, with an aggre- 
gate capacity of 9,000,000 barrels. From this point 
starts the great trunk-line, composed of three 6-inch 
wrought-iron pipes, which run for 400 miles to New 
York Harbour. There are twelve pumping stations 
on the line, spaced about ?3 5 miles apart, to pass on 
the oil at a pressure of about 1000 lbs. to the square 
inch. In this manner some 1,200,000 gallons are 
transferred daily from Olean to the Atlantic seaboard, 
where they are converted by the refineries into burn- 
ing and lubricating oils, and stored in immense iron 
and steel tanks until required for shipment to foreign 
markets. ''The main pipe-line is divided into divi- 
sions and sections, much like a trunk railway system, 
and has, similarly, its division superintendents and 
engineers, section foremen, line gangs and line walkers, 
telegraph stations, and daily reports. The system 
works quietly and smoothly, and as the pipes are 

361 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

buried under ground from i to 2 feet, and run through 
a sparsely settled country, the general public sees or 
hears but little of the system/' ^ 

Similar trunk-lines extend from the Ohio fields to 
Chicago, and from West Virginia and Pennsylvania 
to Philadelphia and Baltimore. 

The Russians are slowly adopting the American 
plan of transport. Unfortunately for the Baku trade 
the refineries had been already established on the 
Caspian, and to transfer the refining industry to the 
Black Sea would entail great loss to the proprietors 
of present installations. Also the Black-Sea-Caspian 
Railway could not spare the revenue derived from the 
carriage of petroleum on its tank-cars. 

The stress of competition has, however, driven the 
oil-merchants to the pipe-line for part of the distance 
between Baku and Batoum. Already an 8-inch line 
has been laid from Batoum to Michaelov, a station 
on the railway 140 miles from the Black Sea. For 
the remaining 420 miles the tank-cars are employed ; 
but the shortening of the journey has greatly increased 
the amount transported daily. In time the line will be 
completed, and wheeled carriage be entirely obviated. 

Prior to 1886 all American oil imported into Great 
Britain came in barrels. Since that year tank steamers 
have been introduced generally in the petroleum- 
carrying trade. These steamers contain from six 
to ten double compartments, each holding from 
85,000 gallons in the case of the smaller steamers to 

^ Casster's Magazine, 
362 



The Romance of Petroleum 

250,000 gallons in steamers of the largest size. The 
tanks are separated from the engines and boilers by 
a safety well or empty space, which is sometimes filled 
with water ; and the total cargo of oil in bulk carried 
in this manner is equivalent to 25,000 to 70,000 barrels. 
In addition to the fifteen steamers which the Anglo- 
American Oil Company now possesses, it is building 
what will prove to be, when finished, the largest tank 
steamer in the world, with an oil capacity of 10,500 
tons in bulk, or 73,500 barrels. 

On arriving at its journey's end the petroleum is 
stored into great circular tanks at Purfleet, Birken- 
head, Hull, Sunderland, Newcastle, Avonmouth, 
Plymouth, Belfast, and Dublin. The Purfleet instal- 
lation covers 30 acres, on which rise many gasometer- 
shaped receptacles, and mountainous piles of empty 
barrels. In all important towns are subsidiary storage 
depots, and the oil is conveyed to them by means 
of railway tank waggons, consisting of a cylindrical 
boiler-plate tank, with a capacity of 3000 gallons, 
placed horizontally on a flat carriage. 

From the 300 provincial depots the oil is distributed 
in road-tanks to the shopkeepers, from whom it finds 
its way to the consumer. 

Colonel Drake, drilling in the quiet Pennsylvania 
valley in 1859, would have needed a more prophetic 
mind than that of Mother Shipton herself to foresee 
the benefits he was conferring on the world by laying 
the foundation of the mightiest trade development 
history has ever recorded, a development that in less 

363 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

than forty years has embraced every corner of the 
globe, and brought light and heat and comfort to 
hundreds of millions of human beings. It has been 
truly said that the discovery of gold in California 
was not so pregnant with the welfare of the human 
race, since gold concerns the few and light concerns 
us all. Also that we accept as a matter of course the 
commoner facts of our existence, and rarely turn 
our thoughts to the ways and means by which our 
wants are satisfied. Quite a long chapter has been 
written on the antecedents of a plum - pudding ; 
the ingredients of which are the outcome of much 
labour working hand in hand with Nature. And 
those who know can fashion quite an entertaining 
story to accompany the lighting of the family lamp, 
directing the listener's thoughts to the Norwegian 
forest whence came the wood for the match, to the 
Carolina cotton -fields that contributed the material 
for the wick, to the Pennsylvanian and Russian oil- 
fields, where the illuminant was won from the dark- 
ness of the nether earth ; to the Bohemian glassworks 
that fashioned the transparent tube which draws the 
flame into the bright radiance of perfect combustion. 

Mention has been made of the natural gas which aids 
the oil miner by driving the petroleum deposits to the 
surface. In some parts of America, notably Indiana 
and Ohio, it occurs in such volumes as to become a 
valuable commodity that can be turned to good 
account as a lighting and heating agent. 

An adit is bored to the subterranean gas cavities, 

364 



The Romance of Petroleum 

and the issuing gas is collected from the various 
wells ; if so, they may be called into central reservoirs 
for propulsion through trunk pipe-lines to distant 
centres of industry. One such line connects the 
Indiana wells, some sixty in number, with Chicago, 
140 miles away. Compressors, which can be worked 
at a maximum pressure of 2000 lbs. per square inch, 
force the gas into the mains under a stress of 300 lbs. 
The mains are two 8-inch wrought-iron pipes, laid 
under ground, and connected at intervals by a ''by- 
pass," which enables the contents of either to be 
switched into the other channel. At the Indiana 
boundary line the pressure is " stepped down " to 
40 lbs., and the diameter of the pipes increased to 
10 inches ; from which it issues on reaching the 
town at a i-lb. pressure into an extensive system of 
distributing mains ramifying throughout the streets. 
Pittsburg is in like manner supplied from Ohio with 
a natural power which, even when conveyed for many 
miles to the consumer, still costs less than the same 
power produced on the spot. The utility of the gas 
may be estimated from the consumption, which in 
Chicago rises to several million cubic feet daily ; while 
in Pittsburg it has to a great extent ousted coal, 
though some of the most extensive coal-fields of 
America are in the neighbourhood of the town. In 
course of time the natural-gas supplies will be ex- 
hausted, and Pittsburgians will turn again to King 
Coal, if that monarch has not been already dethroned 
by the electricity from Niagara. 

365 



CHAPTER XIX 

ARTESIAN WELLS 

In our third chapter we treated of the artificial river, 
the aqueduct, confined to its course by walls of rock, 
cement, and metal. 

The artificial spring, being of at least equal import- 
ance as a source of water-supply, is also worthy of 
notice ; and the reader wnll probably be interested to 
learn some facts concerning the thousands of holes 
with which the engineer has riddled the upper crusts 
of the earth in his search for the pure fluid that is so 
necessary an adjunct to our daily life. 

The type of well that most often strikes our 
attention is a hole several feet in diameter, lined \^nth 
brick and cement, into which water collects from the 
surface. Sometimes the '' dug-out " is of considerable 
depth, and as we peer cautiously over the brink we 
behold our reflections far below in what appear to be 
the very abysses of the earth. 

Such a well is often picturesque and useful. But 
its day has passed — at an^Tate in thickly-peopled 
districts. For the chemist, with his test-tubes and 
microscope, and delicate scales, has but too often a 
doleful tale to tell of the contents of such receptacles. 
Even if their main supply comes from below, a 

366 



Artesian Wells 

certain amount of leakage from the surface is inevit- 
able, and the ''merry microbe" soon finds its way in, 
to the condemnation of the whole supply. 

Sometimes we may see, in newly developed building 
properties, or even in the open country, a small gang 
of men busy round a steel tripod, raising and lifting a 
vertical bar, on which their attention is centred. If 
our curiosity is sufficiently aroused to cause a closer 
inspection, we observe that the bar is slowly, but 
surely, eating its way downwards, and that other bars 
have to be screwed on to it from time to time ; these 
also disappearing in turn. 

The driving of an Artesian well is in progress. The 
workmen have good reason to suppose that beneath 
their feet exists a natural reservoir of good water. It 
may be loo feet down, or perhaps looo, and their 
duty is to hunt for it until found, w^hen it may gush 
from the bore-hole in a fountain, after the manner of 
a petroleum '' spouter,'' or merely rise to a level from 
which pumps will bring it to the surface. 

The word Artesian is connected with the French 
province of Artois, where this method of well-boring 
was first practised in Europe, though known to the 
Chinese for centuries previously. 

It may appear, at first sight, a mystery that 
in many places a well can be sunk for, say, 50 
feet, without yielding any sign of water, and yet 
deliver a copious amount if the boring be continued 
for another 500 feet. The riddle is, however, 
easily solved. 

367 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

Imagine a huge natural basin, many miles across, 
lined all round with clay or some other impermeable 
stratum ; on the top of that a porous layer of chalk, 
sandstone, or sand ; on the top of that again more 
clay. Perhaps in the course of centuries the basin is 
filled up level by deposits of various natures, and 
finally a town built over it. We may suppose that the 
area of the basin is not blessed with a heavy rainfall ; 
but that its rim on one or more sides emerges from 
the earth near a range of hills, or even mountains, 
which cause the condensation of the clouds passing 
over them. The water running down the slopes 
encounters the basin-rim, sinks into it, and finds its 
way between the water-tight strata to the lowest point 
unoccupied. In course of time the basin lining has 
sucked in all that it can hold, and overflows at the 
rim. But the water may become contaminated as it 
settles into the contents of the basin, and so lose the 
purity of the hills. 

The well engineer, to whom the geology of a district 
is known, is not disturbed by the apparent scarcity of 
good water, since he has only to sink a small shaft 
into the lowest part of the lining to obtain command 
of its entire contents. If the basin is but partly filled 
in, so that the centre lies lower than the sides, as soon 
as his drills touch the water-bearing stratum a fountain 
shows itself, in obedience to the natural law that water 
must seek its own level. 

London lies over such a basin. Hundreds of 
Artesian wells have been driven down to the lining, 

368 



n 


ri 


fe 1 


..Ldmimt 


% jiH 




' ^n 







From a photo lent by] 



IMcssis. C. Islcr & Co. 



Bouni Artesian ITV//, Jiair Spahiiiig, LiticohisJiirc. 

This well yields over 5,000,000 gallons a day, and may therefore be considered the most 
copious of its kind in Europe. It is 134 feet deep, and 13 inches in diameter. On the 
right will be seen some of the rods used in the boring of the shaft. 



[To face p. 368. 



Artesian Wells 

which through them yields many million gallons a 
day to the Metropolis. 

The reader will now be able to understand the 
" spouting-bores " of the most arid tracts of Australia 
and North Africa. The water that spirts from them 
in sufficient quantity to keep alive millions of sheep 
and cattle comes from hills that may be hundreds of 
miles away, through the natural aqueduct formed by 
two impervious strata enclosing one that has the 
qualities of a sponge. 

The depth at which a sealed water-bearing stratum 
exists varies enormously in different localities. Thus 
the Bourn Well, Lincolnshire (of which an illustra- 
tion is given), descended but 134 feet before it tapped a 
source that poured over 5,000,000 gallons a day from 
its orifice ! In the London area it is necessary to bore 
from 300 to 500 feet, according to position. And 
London is well off in this respect as compared with 
Paris, where the chalk strata lie six times as far below 
the surface. Among the most famous of Parisian 
wells is that at Grenelle, which was seven years in 
the drilling, a fifteen months' delay being caused by the 
breakage of the boring rods at a depth of over 1250 
feet. On reaching 1500 feet without finding water, 
the engineers would have abandoned the attempt 
but for the representations of Arago, the famous 
French astronomer and natural philosopher, who 
urged them to persevere, with the result that at 1798 feet 
the drills suddenly sank into a cavity from which warm 
water spouted at the rate of 36,000 gallons an hour. 

369 2 A * 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

In 1855 another well, 1923 feet deep, was driven 
down to the same stratum, with a bottom diameter of 
28 inches. So great was the pressure that the outflow 
rose 54 feet into the air, to the extent of over 5J 
million gallons a day. 

Even these were completely eclipsed in profundity 
by a well near Berlin, which attained a depth of 
4194 feet, piercing a salt deposit 3900 feet thick. 

Examples of such wells could be multiplied, as the 
progress of engineering science has made their execu- 
tion more easy from year to year.^ 

In practice the sinking of Artesian bores much 
resembles the driving of a petroleum well, described 
in a previous chapter. But a water shaft, being in- 
tended for a permanency, and having as its object the 
promotion of health, must be sunk with especial care, 
and its joints rendered absolutely impervious to im- 
pure leakage. By means of Artesian bored-tube wells, 
any depth and all sorts of strata can be penetrated. 
There are various methods of boring ; one by con- 
necting lengths of iron rods together, to which the 
various tools are attached, and working the whole up 
and down until the encountered matter has been 
pounded into a sludge, which is removed, after the 

^ In Queensland alone over 800 Artesian and sub-Artesian (i.e, non- 
flowing) wells have been sunk. The bores have an average depth of 1188 
feet, but about sixty range between 3000 and 5045 feet. The yield from 
one bore is 6,000,000 gallons a day, from another 4,500,000 gallons, while 
sixty more contribute over 1,500,000 gallons. The water from many of 
the bores has eaten out a course for more than 40 miles, but is now 
directed by proper channels to the irrigation of thousands of acres of sugar 
and other tropical and sub-tropical products. 

370 



Artesian Wells 

lifting of the rods, by a shell-auger or sludge-pump. 
This is called the percussion system. 

A second is practically that of the American oil 
seeker. The rods are replaced by a rope, and the 
weight is concentrated in the drills and their attach- 
ments. 

A third method of percussion employs hollow in- 
stead of solid rods for moving the auger. Water is 
forced through the rods down to the extremity of the 
perforator, and on its return to the surface brings 
with it all the debris. Whenever this principle can be 
used it proves most expeditious and economical, as 
the tools need not be removed from the hole for 
clearing purposes. 

The fourth is a true drilling method, since the 
cutter remains in contact with its work all the time. 
It is effected by means of a ring of diamonds attached 
to the end of a circular hollow borer. The diamond 
drill is a most useful weapon in the hands of the 
prospector as well as the water engineer, because it 
enables him to rescue from the depths the solid core 
that the cutter has gradually absorbed into the hollow 
rods on its downward path. By inspecting the cores 
it is easy to see almost at a glance the nature of the 
stratum being worked ; whereas under the percussion 
systems the '^ slurry " comes up in the form of an un- 
recognisable sand or sludge. 

So great is the hardness of the diamond, that it can 
cut thousands of feet through the hardest rock without 
appreciable damage to itself. Hence the well-sinker 

371 



Romance of Modern Engineering 

employs it wherever possible, putting it aside as soon 
as a soft or friable stratum is met, and returning to his 
percussion tools. The last two methods can con- 
veniently be used conjointly, as the same set of hollow 
rods will serve for the two different types of auger. 
The smallest diamond drills, worked by hand, take 
cores about an inch in diameter for holes up to 400 
feet in depth, while the largest stock size produces a 
core 16 inches across (weighing upwards of 3 tons), 
and can be successfully operated at a depth of as 
much as a mile.^ 

The engineer lines the bore as it sinks with steel 
tubes, connected by almost flush joints of the same 
metal, until he reaches the chalk. Sometimes, to pre- 
vent any possibility of leakage past the tube, he first 
inserts an outer lining which descends to below the 
permeable surface strata. The annular space between 
the two tubes (both of which reach to the surface) 
is filled in with concrete, and made absolutely water- 
tight. On occasions, however, as soon as the inner 
tube has been firmly imbedded, the outer is removed 
for use in another place. 

With regard to the quantity of water obtainable by 
means of Artesian bored-tube wells, it is unlimited, as 
the yield can be increased by connecting a series of 

^ In Upper Silesia a bore 6571 feet was sunk in search of the coal 
measures. This bore began with a 1 2-inch diameter, which decreased by 
stages to 2| inches. At 6560 feet the weight of tubular boring rods was 
13J tons ; 1 1 feet lower, 4500 feet of rods broke off and fell to the bottom, 
whence the engineers were unable to rescue them. This depth is con- 
sidered to be about the limit of present-day apparatus. 

372 



Artesian Wells 

from the depths of a well ; and another, called a 
'* crow's-foot/' that serves the same purpose ; and yet 
a third, styled a '' bell-box," that is let down on to 
broken rods, passes over a joint, and grips it fast when 
drawn upwards. 

Without these multifarious devices many a well 
would have to be abandoned after it has been sunk 
for hundreds of feet, and with it a great quantity of 
pounds, shillings, and pence. 

Note. — The author is indebted to Messrs. C. Isler & Co., of Bear 
Lane, Southwark, for much of the information here given. 



THE END 



Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson &» Co. 
Edinburgh <5r» London 



377 



The 

Romance 
of 

Modern 
iDvention 



« An Ideal Gift Book." — Newcastle Leader. 

The Romance of 
Modern Invention 

BY 

ARCHIBALD WILLIAMS 

Extra crown 8vo, cloth gilt, with 26 
Illustrations, price $1.50 net. 

This volume deals in a popular way with all 
the latest inventions, such as 

Airships, Mono-Rail, Liquid Air, Sun 

Motors, Mechanical Flight, Submarine 

Boats, Wireless Telegraphy, 

Etc. Etc. 



SOME OPINIONS OF THE PRESS 

*' There is probably no living specimen of a 
boy who will not find this admirable volume a 
source of keen enjoyment." — Standard. 

" No more welcome present could be given 
to a boy." — Daily Graphic. 

" This is a book that all boys will eagerly 
welcome ... set forth in vivid and picturesque 
language. ' ' — World, 

" Ought to be placed in the hands of every 
thoughtful boy." — Echo. 

" The information throughout is so intelligibly 
expressed, and the matters referred to are so 
full of interest, that it would be difficult to select 
a more appropriate present for boys and girls." 
— Morning Post. 



